title: Semen-derived amyloid fibrils drastically enhance HIV infection.
abstract: Sexual intercourse is the major route of HIV transmission. To identify endogenous factors that affect the efficiency of sexual viral transmission, we screened a complex peptide/protein library derived from human semen. We show that naturally occurring fragments of the abundant semen marker prostatic acidic phosphatase (PAP) form amyloid fibrils. These fibrils, termed Semen-derived Enhancer of Virus Infection (SEVI), capture HIV virions and promote their attachment to target cells, thereby enhancing the infectious virus titer by several orders of magnitude. Physiological concentrations of SEVI amplified HIV infection of T cells, macrophages, ex vivo human tonsillar tissues, and transgenic rats in vivo, as well as trans-HIV infection of T cells by dendritic or epithelial cells. Amyloidogenic PAP fragments are abundant in seminal fluid and boost semen-mediated enhancement of HIV infection. Thus, they may play an important role in sexual transmission of HIV and could represent new targets for its prevention.
authors: Institute of Virology, University Clinic of Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Münch
authors: Elke
authors: E
authors: Rücker
authors: Ludger
authors: L
authors: Ständker
authors: Knut
authors: K
authors: Adermann
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Goffinet
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Schindler
authors: Steffen
authors: S
authors: Wildum
authors: Raghavan
authors: R
authors: Chinnadurai
authors: Devi
authors: D
authors: Rajan
authors: Anke
authors: A
authors: Specht
authors: Guillermo
authors: G
authors: Giménez-Gallego
authors: Pedro Cuevas
authors: PC
authors: Sánchez
authors: Douglas M
authors: DM
authors: Fowler
authors: Atanas
authors: A
authors: Koulov
authors: Jeffery W
authors: JW
authors: Kelly
authors: Walther
authors: W
authors: Mothes
authors: Jean-Charles
authors: JC
authors: Grivel
authors: Leonid
authors: L
authors: Margolis
authors: Oliver T
authors: OT
authors: Keppler
authors: Wolf-Georg
authors: WG
authors: Forssmann
authors: Frank
authors: F
authors: Kirchhoff
mesh_terms: D000135:Acid Phosphatase; D000682:Amyloid / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000502:physiology*; D019151:Peptide Library; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012661:Semen / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D015229:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019151:Peptide Library; D000135:Acid Phosphatase; C428439:prostatic acid phosphatase; C526435:prostatic acid phosphatase (248-286), human; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases