Cyclophilin A Prevents HIV-1 Restriction in Lymphocytes by Blocking Human TRIM5α Binding to the viral Core

ABSTRACTDisruption of cyclophilin A (CypA)-capsid interactions affects HIV-1 replication in human lymphocytes. To understand the mechanism, we used Jurkat cells, human PBMCs, and human CD4+T cells. Our results showed that the inhibition of HIV-1 infection caused by disrupting CypA-capsid interactions is dependent on human TRIM5α (TRIM5αhu), suggesting that TRIM5αhurestricts HIV-1. Accordingly, we found that TRIM5αhubinds to the HIV-1 core. Disruption of CypA-capsid interactions failed to affect HIV-1-A92E infection, correlating with the loss of TRIM5αhubinding to HIV-1-A92E cores. Disruption of CypA-capsid interactions in PBMCs and CD4+T cells had a greater inhibitory effect on HIV-1 when compared to Jurkat cells. HIV-1-A92E infection of PBMCs and CD4+T cells was unaffected by disruption of CypA-capsid interactions. Consistent with TRIM5α restriction, disruption of CypA-capsid interactions in CD4+T cells inhibited reverse transcription. Overall, our results showed that CypA binding to the core protects HIV-1 from TRIM5αhurestriction.

The Cyclophilin Inhibitor SCY-635 Disrupts Hepatitis C Virus NS5A-Cyclophilin A Complexes

ABSTRACTThe nonimmunosuppressive cyclophilin (Cyp) inhibitor SCY-635 blocks hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication bothin vitroandin vivoand represents a novel potent anti-HCV agent. However, its mechanism of action remains to be fully elucidated. A growing body of evidence suggests that cyclophilin A (CypA) is absolutely necessary for HCV replication and that the HCV nonstructural 5A (NS5A) protein serves as a main viral ligand for CypA. In this study, we examined the effect of SCY-635 on HCV replication. Specifically, we asked whether SCY-635 blocks HCV replication by targeting CypA-NS5A interactions. We also investigated the possibility that HCV can escape SCY-635 selection pressure and whether this resistance influences either CypA-NS5A interactions or the dependence of HCV on CypA. We found not only that SCY-635 efficiently inhibits HCV replication, but it is sufficient alone to clear HCV replicon-containing cells. We found that SCY-635 prevents CypA-NS5A interactions in a dose-dependent manner. SCY-635 prevents the contact between CypA and NS5A derived from genotypes 1 to 3. Together, these data suggest that NS5A-CypA interactions control HCV replication and that SCY-635 blocks viral replication by preventing the formation of these complexes. We also found that NS5A mutant proteins found in SCY-635-resistant HCV replicons behave similarly to wild-type NS5A in terms of both CypA binding and SCY-635-mediated dissociation and inhibition of CypA binding. However, the NS5A mutations found in SCY-635-resistant HCV replicons rescued viral replication in CypA-knockdown cells, suggesting that the NS5A mutations, which arosein vitrounder SCY-635 selection, do not alter the binding affinity of CypA for NS5A. These specific mutations in NS5A eliminate the dependence of HCV RNA replication on the expression of host CypA

Escape and Compensation from Early HLA-B57-Mediated Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Pressure on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Gag Alter Capsid Interactions with Cyclophilin A

ABSTRACT Certain histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are associated with improved clinical outcomes for individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), but the mechanisms for their effects remain undefined. An early CD8+ T-cell escape mutation in the dominant HLA-B57-restricted Gag epitope TW10 (TSTLQEQIGW) has been shown to impair HIV-1 replication capacity in vitro. We demonstrate here that this T242N substitution in the capsid protein is associated with upstream mutations at residues H219, I223, and M228 in the cyclophilin A (CypA)-binding loop in B57+ individuals with progressive disease. In an independent cohort of epidemiologically linked transmission pairs, the presence of these substitutions in viruses encoding T242N was associated with significantly higher plasma viremia in donors, further suggesting that these secondary mutations compensated for the replication defect of T242N. Using NL4-3 constructs, we illustrate the ability of these CypA loop changes to partially restore replication of the T242N variant in vitro. Notably, these mutations also enhanced viral resistance to the drug cyclosporine A, indicating a reduced dependence of the compensated virus on CypA that is normally essential for optimal infectivity. Therefore, mutations in TW10 allow HIV-1 to evade a dominant early CD8+ T-cell response, but the benefits of escape are offset by a defect in capsid function. These data suggest that TW10 escape variants undergo a postentry block that is partially overcome by changes in the CypA-binding loop and identify a mechanism for an HIV-1 fitness defect that may contribute to the slower disease progression associated with HLA-B57.

A Mutation in Alpha Helix 3 of CA Renders Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Cyclosporin A Resistant and Dependent: Rescue by a Second-Site Substitution in a Distal Region of CA

ABSTRACT The replication of many isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is enhanced by binding of the host cell protein cyclophilin A (CypA) to the viral capsid protein (CA). The immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine A (CsA) and its nonimmunosuppressive analogs bind with high affinity to CypA and inhibit HIV-1 replication. Previous studies have identified two mutations, A92E and G94D, in the CypA-binding loop of CA that confer the ability of HIV-1 to replicate in the presence of CsA. Interestingly, CsA stimulates the replication of HIV-1 mutants containing either the A92E or G94D substitution in some human cell lines. Here, we show that substitution of alanine for threonine at position 54 of CA (T54A) also confers HIV-1 resistance to and dependence on CsA. Like the previously identified CsA-resistant/dependent mutants, infection by the T54A mutant was stimulated by CsA in a target cell-specific manner. RNA interference-mediated reduction of CypA expression enhanced the permissiveness of HeLa cells to infection by the T54A mutant. A suppressor mutation, encoding a substitution of threonine for alanine at position 105 of CA (A105T), was identified through adaptation of the T54A mutant virus for growth in CEM cells. A105T rescued the impaired single-cycle infectivity and replication defects of both T54A and A92E mutants. These results indicate that CA determinants outside the CypA-binding loop can modulate the dependence of HIV-1 infection on CypA.

Virus Particle Core Defects Caused by Mutations in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Capsid N-Terminal Domain

ABSTRACT The N-terminal domains (NTDs) of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) capsid (CA) protein have been modeled to form hexamer rings in the mature cores of virions. In vitro, hexamer ring units organize into either tubes or spheres, in a pH-dependent fashion. To probe factors which might govern hexamer assembly preferences in vivo, we examined the effects of mutations at CA histidine residue 84 (H84), modeled at the outer edges of NTD hexamers, as well as a nearby histidine (H87) in the cyclophilin A (CypA) binding loop. Although mutations at H87 yielded infectious virions, mutations at H84 produced assembly-competent but poorly infectious virions. The H84 mutant viruses incorporated wild-type levels of CypA and viral RNAs and showed nearly normal signals in virus entry assays. However, mutant CA proteins assembled aberrant virus cores, and mutant core fractions retained abnormally high levels of CA but reduced reverse transcriptase activities. Our results suggest that HIV-1 CA residue 84 contributes to a structure which helps control either NTD hexamer assembly or the organization of hexamers into higher-order structures.

Species-Specific Tropism Determinants in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Capsid

ABSTRACT Retroviral tropism is determined in part by cellular restriction factors that block infection by targeting the incoming viral capsid. Indeed, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of many nonhuman primate cells is inhibited by one such factor, termed Lv1. In contrast, a restriction factor in humans, termed Ref1, does not inhibit HIV-1 infection unless nonnatural mutations are introduced into the HIV-1 capsid protein (CA). Here, we examined the infectivity of a panel of mutant HIV-1 strains carrying substitutions in the N-terminal CA domain in cells that exhibit restriction attributable to Lv1 or Ref1. Manipulation of HIV-1 CA could alter HIV-1 tropism, and several mutations were identified that increased or decreased HIV-1 infectivity in a target-cell-specific manner. Many residues that affected HIV-1 tropism were located in the three variable loops that lie on the outer surface of the modeled HIV-1 conical capsid. Some tropism determinants, including the CypA binding site, coincided with residues whose mutation conferred on HIV-1 CA the ability to saturate Ref1 in human cells. Notably, a mutation that reverses the infectivity defect in human cells induced by CypA binding site mutation inhibits recognition by Ref1. Overall, these findings demonstrate that exposed variable loops in CA and a partial CypA “coat” can modulate restriction and HIV-1 tropism and suggest a model in which the exposed surface of the incoming retroviral capsid is the target for inhibition by host cell-specific restriction factors.

Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Virions Depleted of Cyclophilin A by Natural Endogenous Reverse Transcription Restores Infectivity

ABSTRACT We have previously shown that virions with nef deleted can be restored to wild-type infectivity by treatment to induce natural endogenous reverse transcription (NERT). Since Nef and cyclophilin A (CyPA) appear to act in similar ways on postentry events, we determined whether NERT treatment would restore infectivity to virions depleted of CyPA. Our results show that the infectivity of virions depleted of CyPA by treatment with cyclosporine A could be restored by NERT treatment, while mutants in the CyPA binding loop of capsid could only be partially restored. These results suggest that CyPA is involved in some aspect of the uncoating process.