Vaginal bacterium Prevotella timonensis turns protective Langerhans cells into HIV-1 reservoirs for virus dissemination.

ABSTRACT: Dysbiosis of vaginal microbiota is associated with increased HIV-1 acquisition, but the underlying cellular mechanisms remain unclear. Vaginal Langerhans cells (LCs) protect against mucosal HIV-1 infection via autophagy-mediated degradation of HIV-1. As LCs are in continuous contact with bacterial members of the vaginal microbiome, we investigated the impact of commensal and dysbiosis-associated vaginal (an)aerobic bacterial species on the antiviral function of LCs. Most of the tested bacteria did not affect the HIV-1 restrictive function of LCs. However, Prevotella timonensis induced a vast uptake of HIV-1 by vaginal LCs. Internalized virus remained infectious for days and uptake was unaffected by antiretroviral drugs. P. timonensis-exposed LCs efficiently transmitted HIV-1 to target cell

SUBMITTER: van Teijlingen NH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9531304 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature