Epigenetic silencing by the SMC5/6 complex mediates HIV-1 latency.

After viral entry and reverse transcription, HIV-1 proviruses that fail to integrate are epigenetically silenced, but the underlying mechanism has remained unclear. Using a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen, we identified the host SMC5/6 complex as essential for this epigenetic silencing. We show that SMC5/6 binds to and then SUMOylates unintegrated chromatinized HIV-1 DNA.

Mapping of pseudouridine residues on cellular and viral transcripts using a novel antibody-based technique.

Pseudouridine (Ψ) is the most common noncanonical ribonucleoside present on mammalian noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including rRNAs, tRNAs, and snRNAs, where it contributes ∼7% of the total uridine level. However, Ψ constitutes only ∼0.1% of the uridines present on mRNAs and its effect on mRNA function remains unclear.

Epitranscriptomic addition of mA regulates HIV-1 RNA stability and alternative splicing.

Previous work has demonstrated that the epitranscriptomic addition of mA to viral transcripts can promote the replication and pathogenicity of a wide range of DNA and RNA viruses, including HIV-1, yet the underlying mechanisms responsible for this effect have remained unclear. It is known that mA function is largely mediated by cellular mA binding proteins or readers, yet how these regulate viral gene expression in general, and HIV-1 gene expression in particular, has been controversial. Here, we confirm that mA addition indeed regulates HIV-1 RNA expression and demonstrate that this effect is largely mediated by the nuclear mA reader YTHDC1 and the cytoplasmic mA reader YTHDF2.

Understanding the characteristics of nonspecific binding of drug-like compounds to canonical stem-loop RNAs and their implications for functional cellular assays.

Identifying small molecules that selectively bind an RNA target while discriminating against all other cellular RNAs is an important challenge in RNA-targeted drug discovery. Much effort has been directed toward identifying drug-like small molecules that minimize electrostatic and stacking interactions that lead to nonspecific binding of aminoglycosides and intercalators to many stem-loop RNAs. Many such compounds have been reported to bind RNAs and inhibit their cellular activities.

Reversal of Epigenetic Silencing Allows Robust HIV-1 Replication in the Absence of Integrase Function.

Integration of the proviral DNA intermediate into the host cell genome normally represents an essential step in the retroviral life cycle. While the reason(s) for this requirement remains unclear, it is known that unintegrated proviral DNA is epigenetically silenced. Here, we demonstrate that human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) mutants lacking a functional integrase (IN) can mount a robust, spreading infection in cells expressing the Tax transcription factor encoded by human T-cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1).