In applying for the VA Career Development Award (CDA), I hope to acquire the experience, skills, and knowledge necessary to become an independent faculty investigator who uses patient-driven research to better understand the obstacles to eradication of HIV. My research background includes: 1) investigating the transcriptional control of the proto-oncogene c-kit; 2) investigating whether the viral transcription factor Tat contributes to latent infection with HIV-1; and 3) investigating HIV levels and immune parameters within different parts of the gut. This CDA will enable me to obtain additional training in several key areas that will facilitate my transition to an independent translational researcher. Specific areas of training include advanced immunology and virology, biostatistics, design and implementation of clinical studies, scientific collaborations, new laboratory techniques, novel assays, and grant writing. The research environment will include the San Francisco VA Medical Center along with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and its affiliated institutions, including San Francisco General Hospital and the Gladstone Institute. These institutions are nationally known for clinical care, training, and research in HIV. This study seeks to improve understanding of how and why HIV persists on antiretroviral therapy by investigating whether the gut is a site of ongoing replication, whether it is a major reservoir of latently-infected CD4+ T cells (or other cellular reservoirs), and how these cells are maintained.
The specific aims are: 1) to quantify levels of HIV (DNA, RNA) in different cell populations and subpopulations in both the gut and peripheral blood; 2) to assess for ongoing replication in the ileum by testing for markers that are associated with recent infection; 3) to measure the proportion of each gut cell type with inducible, replication-competent, and/or latent HIV; 4) to investigate mechanisms of latency in the gut; and 5) to evaluate the ability of different anti-latency therapies to reactivate HIV from gut cells and tissues. Gut tissue will be obtained primarily via colonoscopic biopsies of the ileum and rectum. In addition, the study will make use of unused tissue from patients who are undergoing abdominal surgery for clinical reasons unrelated to the study. These biopsies and tissues will be used to identify the cell populations with the most HIV DNA and RNA, to measure inducible and/or replication-competent HIV in the gut, to investigate mechanisms of latency in the gut, and to test the effect of different anti-latency therapies. The knowledge thus gained may ultimately contribute to new and improved therapies aimed at eradication or lifelong coexistence with HIV.

Public Health Relevance

Over 22,000 U.S. veterans with HIV currently receive care through VA facilities, making the VA the largest provider of medical care to HIV+ patients in the U.S. Though antiviral medicines have revolutionized the lives of those with HIV, these therapies are expensive, require lifelong administration and monitoring, cause side effects and toxicities, do not prevent ongoing damage from HIV (average loss of 11 years of life), and are difficult to provide to everybody with HIV. Thus, it seems imperative to explore new and different therapies for HIV, especially those that can possibly lead to eradication. This study seeks to further define and quantify the largest known reservoir of HIV (in the gut), to explore mechanisms that may allow HIV to persist on antiviral therapy (including latent infection and ongoing replication in the gut), and to evaluate therapies aimed at overcoming latent infection in the gut or blood. In doing so, it has the potential to lead to new and improved therapies for HIV, which would have an enormous impact on all HIV+ patients, including U.S. veterans.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Veterans Affairs (VA)
Type
Veterans Administration (IK2)
Project #
5IK2CX000520-05
Application #
8793735
Study Section
Infectious Diseases A (INFA)
Project Start
2011-08-01
Project End
2016-07-31
Budget Start
2015-08-01
Budget End
2016-07-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Veterans Affairs Medical Center San Francisco
Department
Type
DUNS #
078763885
City
San Francisco
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94121
Yukl, Steven A; Kaiser, Philipp; Kim, Peggy et al. (2018) HIV latency in isolated patient CD4+ T cells may be due to blocks in HIV transcriptional elongation, completion, and splicing. Sci Transl Med 10:
Kaiser, Philipp; Joshi, Sunil K; Kim, Peggy et al. (2017) Assays for precise quantification of total (including short) and elongated HIV-1 transcripts. J Virol Methods 242:1-8
Cockerham, Leslie R; Yukl, Steven A; Harvill, Kara et al. (2017) A Randomized Controlled Trial of Lisinopril to Decrease Lymphoid Fibrosis in Antiretroviral-Treated, HIV-infected Individuals. Pathog Immun 2:310-334
Koelsch, Kersten K; Rasmussen, Thomas A; Hey-Nguyen, William J et al. (2017) Impact of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation on the HIV Reservoir and Immune Response in 3 HIV-Infected Individuals. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 75:328-337
Lee, Sulggi A; Bacchetti, Peter; Chomont, Nicolas et al. (2016) Anti-HIV Antibody Responses and the HIV Reservoir Size during Antiretroviral Therapy. PLoS One 11:e0160192
Wong, Joseph K; Yukl, Steven A (2016) Tissue reservoirs of HIV. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 11:362-70
Li, Peilin; Kaiser, Philipp; Lampiris, Harry W et al. (2016) Stimulating the RIG-I pathway to kill cells in the latent HIV reservoir following viral reactivation. Nat Med 22:807-11
Yukl, Steven A; Shergill, Amandeep K; Girling, Valerie et al. (2015) Site-specific differences in T cell frequencies and phenotypes in the blood and gut of HIV-uninfected and ART-treated HIV+ adults. PLoS One 10:e0121290
Cockerham, Leslie R; Siliciano, Janet D; Sinclair, Elizabeth et al. (2014) CD4+ and CD8+ T cell activation are associated with HIV DNA in resting CD4+ T cells. PLoS One 9:e110731
Yukl, Steven A; Sinclair, Elizabeth; Somsouk, Ma et al. (2014) A comparison of methods for measuring rectal HIV levels suggests that HIV DNA resides in cells other than CD4+ T cells, including myeloid cells. AIDS 28:439-42

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