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Next Generation Sequencing Facilitates Quantitative Analysis of HIV Elite controller, HIV ART, HIV ART-naive and healthy control Transcriptomes

ABSTRACT: A small group of HIV-1-infected individuals, termed elite controllers (ECs), display control of HIV replication in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, the mechanisms of resistance to HIV in ECs remains largely unknown. To identify host factors specific to the ECs that might be involved in controlling HIV infection, we performed RNA-seq transcriptome analysis, and a total of 44 samples were included. The monocytes from each sample were enriched, sequenced, and subjected to comparative transcriptome analysis to screen candidate genes that might affect resistance to HIV infection. we found several candidate genes with highly divergent expression that might contribute to the different outcomes of HIV infection in ECs and non-ECs. This finding will help elucidate the mechanisms by which ECs restrict HIV replication and represents a new approach for treatment of HIV.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE157198 | GEO | 2021/12/09

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has the potency of suppressing systemic viral replication and spread. Still, persistent human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) survive for decades during treatment in latently infected cells, making up the latent viral reservoir. This reservoir is believed to reside in subtypes of memory T cells and cell from monocytic lineages, but some functional and naïve T cells have also shown to carry latent HIV. Eradication of latently infected cells, in terms of a sterilizing cure, have proven to be a hurdle since there is a heterogeneity in mechanisms governing latency and integration site into the genome. Over the course of suppressive therapy, persisting HIV, sustained by low levels of viral replication, homeostatic proliferation, and cell to cell transmission, is a driver of chronic immune activation in the body. For the immune system to elicit an appropriate inflammatory response it is dependent on secretion of inflammatory molecules, such as chemokines and cytokines. Most chemokines are pro-inflammatory factors that facilitate leukocyte recruitment to site of inflammation where they can exert their regulatory role in response to pathological and physiological stressors e.g., infection, inflammation, and tissue damage. Alterations in chemokine receptor expression and chemokine levels modulates the activity of the immune response and in HIV infection contribute to chronic inflammation and mortality. Therefore, people living with HIV on suppressive therapy (PLWH) are at higher risk of age associated co-morbidities due to elevated immune activation and chronic inflammation induced by ART toxicities, microbiome dysbiosis leading to microbial translocation and dysregulated immune cell activation and function. As a result, the causative HIV pathogenesis and immune dysfunction further chronic immune activation. This result in a vicious cycle as immune activation is driver of HIV disease progression and inflammaeging leading to earlier onset of age-related diseases. An alternative approach in cure strategies is a functional cure for HIV aiming at suppressing viral replication without ART. A model for functional cure studies are elite controllers (EC). EC constitute a small fraction of HIV+ individuals (<0.5%) exhibiting the unique characteristic of natural control of viral replication in absence of ART. However, there is a population-based heterogeneity of how these individuals naturally supress viral replication. This heterogeneity is caused by viral genetic factors, variability of integration site in the human genome, together with host response against the pathogen and immunological factors. In terms of immune cell activation, studies have shown how EC maintain lower levels of inflammatory markers compared to PLWH. Contradictory, some studies have shown elevated inflammatory markers in EC which could be attributed to the heterogeneity of the EC group or as others have shown it is a consequence of loss of spontaneous control of HIV. Therefore, as no consensus exist further studies comparing variability of immune function between EC and ART can aid in understanding the mechanisms of natural control of HIV. In our recent study (Sperk et al 2021, iScience) we hypothesised that modulated CCR6/CCL20 chemokine axis and CCR2-CCL7-CCL2 signalling can play a protective role in the EC phenotype. Downregulation of CCR2 and CCR6 receptors in lymphocytes and higher plasma abundance of CCL4, CCL7 and CCL20 in EC compared to the HIV-negative controls can provide natural resistance to HIV-infection. In the present study, we further extended our analysis to evaluate the expression profile dynamics of key chemokine receptors, CCR2, CCR3, CCR5 and CCR6, in successfully treated PLWH. We compared well treated PLWH with HIV-1 elite controllers and its association with HIV-1 persistence. Furthermore, cell populations of interest were isolated for liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based untargeted proteomics analysis to evaluate specific characteristics regulating these cell populations and their role in HIV persistence. Our study provides important understanding of the chemokine receptor dynamics and its role in HIV persistence that differentiate elite controllers from long term treated PLWH.

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Next Generation Sequencing Facilitates Quantitative Analysis of HIV Elite controller, HIV ART, HIV ART-naive and healthy control Transcriptomes

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