title: Preclinical Assessment of Mutant Human TRIM5α as an Anti-HIV-1 Transgene.
abstract: Current HIV-1 gene therapy approaches aim at stopping the viral life cycle at its earliest steps, such as entry or immediate postentry events. Among the most widely adopted strategies are CCR5 downregulation/knockout and the use of broadly neutralizing antibodies. However, the long-term efficacy and side effects are still unclear. TRIM5α is an interferon-stimulated restriction factor that can intercept incoming retroviruses within one hour of cytosolic entry and potently inhibit the infectivity of restriction-sensitive viruses. The human TRIM5α (TRIM5αhu) generally does not efficiently target HIV-1, but point mutations in its capsid-binding domain can confer anti-HIV-1 activity. Although the mechanisms by which TRIM5αhu mutants inhibit HIV-1 are relatively well understood, their characterization as potential transgenes for gene therapy is lacking. Additionally, previous reports of general immune activation by overexpression of TRIM5α have hindered its broad adoption as a potential transgene. Here we demonstrate the ability of the R332G-R335G TRIM5αhu mutant to efficiently restrict highly divergent HIV-1 strains, including Group O, as well as clinical isolates bearing cytotoxic T lymphocyte escape mutations. R332G-R335G TRIM5αhu efficiently protected human lymphocytes against HIV-1 infection, even when expressed at relatively low levels following lentiviral transduction. Most importantly, under these conditions Rhesus macaque TRIM5α (TRIM5αRh) and TRIM5αhu (wild-type or mutated) had no major effects on the NF-κB pathway. Transgenic TRIM5α did not modulate the kinetics of IκBα, JunB, and TNFAIP3 expression following TNF-α treatment. Finally, we show that human lymphocytes expressing R332G-R335G TRIM5αhu have clear survival advantages over unmodified parental cells in the presence of pathogenic, replication-competent HIV-1. These results support the relevance of R332G-R335G and other mutants of TRIM5αhu as candidate effectors for HIV-1 gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Molecular & Cell Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope , Duarte, California.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Molecular & Cell Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope , Duarte, California.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Urak
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Retrovirology, Department of Medical Biology, Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Veillette
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Retrovirology, Department of Medical Biology, Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Édith
authors.initials: MÉ
authors.lastname: Nepveu-Traversy
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Retrovirology, Department of Medical Biology, Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
authors.forename: Quang Toan
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Retrovirology, Department of Medical Biology, Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Molecular & Cell Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope , Duarte, California.|3 Graduate School of Biological Sciences, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Retrovirology, Department of Medical Biology, Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berthoux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000090103:Antiviral Restriction Factors; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D016086:Lentivirus / Q000235:genetics; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D050505:Mutant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009154:Mutation; D011485:Protein Binding; D019076:Transgenes; D000070584:Tripartite Motif Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
chemical_list: D000090103:Antiviral Restriction Factors; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D050505:Mutant Proteins; D000070584:Tripartite Motif Proteins; C477346:TRIM5 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases