During the previous funding period we made major advances in our understanding of HIV-1 uncoating and reverse transcription, publishing 36 manuscripts, including 19 with senior last authorship. Our salient finding was that cellular proteins and drugs that destabilize the HIV-1 core, thereby accelerating uncoating, prevent the occurrence of reverse transcription and disrupt infection. Overall our findings lead us to propose a model in which the HIV-1 core is a container that ensures the completion of reverse transcription before uncoating. Agents such as TRIM5? or the small molecule inhibitors PF74 and Bi2, which destabilize the HIV-1 core, prevent the occurrence of reverse transcription. Proteins and drugs that stabilize the HIV-1 core, however, also disrupt infection. To understand the mechanism by which stabilization of the HIV-1 core blocks HIV-1 infection, we are going to take advantage of the recently discovered human MxB protein. MxB is an interferon-?-inducible protein that blocks HIV-1 infection after reverse transcription but prior to integration. Genetic experiments suggested that capsid is the viral determinant for the ability of MxB to block HIV-1 infection; In agreement, our preliminary results indicated that MxB binds to the HIV-1 core and stabilizes the HIV-1 core during infection. MxB is the first naturally expressed protein known to stabilize the HIV-1 core, making MxB an ideal candidate to understand how core stabilization leads to a block on HIV-1 infection. This application will test the hypothesis that MxB binds to the HIV-1 core and forms higher order structures on its surface, thereby preventing uncoating. The following aims will be used to test this hypothesis: 1) Examine the role of MxB binding to capsid on restriction, 2) Examine the role of oligomerization and higher-order self-association in the ability of MxB to bind the HIV-1 core, 3) Examine the subcellular localization of restriction b MxB, and 4) Examine the role of phosphorylation in the ability of MxB to block HIV-1 infection. The knowledge gain by this proposal will be instrumental for understanding the basic uncoating process of HIV-1 and the mechanism by which MxB blocks infection. The knowledge gain here is the potential basis for the development of novel treatments against HIV-1.

Public Health Relevance

The recently discovered MxB is an IFN-? inducible protein that potently block HIV-1 infection. This work will explore the mechanism by which MxB blocks HIV-1 infection. The results obtained from this work will be instrumental for the development of novel strategies to prevent or block ongoing HIV-1 infection.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI087390-08
Application #
9017906
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Church, Elizabeth S
Project Start
2009-12-01
Project End
2020-02-29
Budget Start
2016-03-01
Budget End
2017-02-28
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Inc
Department
Type
DUNS #
079783367
City
Bronx
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10461
Schulte, Bianca; Selyutina, Anastasia; Opp, Silvana et al. (2018) Localization to detergent-resistant membranes and HIV-1 core entry inhibition correlate with HIV-1 restriction by SERINC5. Virology 515:52-65
Selyutina, Anastasia; Bulnes-Ramos, Angel; Diaz-Griffero, Felipe (2018) Binding of host factors to stabilized HIV-1 capsid tubes. Virology 523:1-5
Martinez-Lopez, Alicia; Martin-Fernandez, Marta; Buta, Sofija et al. (2018) SAMHD1 deficient human monocytes autonomously trigger type I interferon. Mol Immunol 101:450-460
Buffone, Cindy; Martinez-Lopez, Alicia; Fricke, Thomas et al. (2018) Nup153 Unlocks the Nuclear Pore Complex for HIV-1 Nuclear Translocation in Nondividing Cells. J Virol 92:
White, Tommy E; Brandariz-Nuñez, Alberto; Martinez-Lopez, Alicia et al. (2017) A SAMHD1 mutation associated with Aicardi-Goutières syndrome uncouples the ability of SAMHD1 to restrict HIV-1 from its ability to downmodulate type I interferon in humans. Hum Mutat 38:658-668
Opp, Silvana; Fricke, Thomas; Shepard, Caitlin et al. (2017) The small-molecule 3G11 inhibits HIV-1 reverse transcription. Chem Biol Drug Des 89:608-618
Chen, Nan-Yu; Zhou, Lihong; Gane, Paul J et al. (2016) HIV-1 capsid is involved in post-nuclear entry steps. Retrovirology 13:28
Wang, Zhonghua; Bhattacharya, Akash; Villacorta, Jessica et al. (2016) Allosteric Activation of SAMHD1 Protein by Deoxynucleotide Triphosphate (dNTP)-dependent Tetramerization Requires dNTP Concentrations That Are Similar to dNTP Concentrations Observed in Cycling T Cells. J Biol Chem 291:21407-21413
White, Tommy E; Brandariz-Nuñez, Alberto; Han, Kyudong et al. (2016) Modulation of LINE-1 Retrotransposition by a Human SAMHD1 Polymorphism. Virol Rep 6:53-60
Fricke, Thomas; Diaz-Griffero, Felipe (2016) HIV-1 Capsid Stabilization Assay. Methods Mol Biol 1354:39-47

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