Authors: Nischal Ranganath, Teslin S Sandstrom, Stephanie C Burke Schinkel, Sandra C Côté, Jonathan B Angel
Summary:
Latently HIV-infected cells evade immune- and drug-mediated clearance. These cells harbour intracellular signalling defects including impairment of the antiviral, type I IFN (IFN-I) response. Such defects have also been observed in several cancers, and have been exploited for the development of therapeutic oncolytic viruses, including the recombinant Maraba virus (MG1). We therefore hypothesized that MG1 would infect and eliminate latently HIV-1-infected cells, while sparing healthy uninfected cells. Preferential infection and elimination by MG1 was first demonstrated in latently HIV-1-infected cell lines. Following this, a reduction in HIV-1 DNA and inducible HIV-1 replication was observed following MG1 infection of latently infected, resting CD4 + T-cells generated using an in vitro model of latency. Lastly, MG1 infection resulted in a reduction in HIV-1 DNA and inducible HIV-1 replication in memory CD4+ T-cells isolated from effectively treated, HIV-1-infected individuals. Our results therefore highlight a novel approach to eliminate the latent HIV-1 reservoir.
Source:
The Journal of Infectious Diseases; 2017