Sex and Age Impact CD4+ T Cell Susceptibility to HIV In Vitro through Cell Activation Dynamics.

Cellular composition and the responsiveness of the immune system evolve upon aging and are influenced by biological sex. CD4+ T cells from women living with HIV exhibit a decreased viral replication ex vivo compared to men's. We, thus, hypothesized that these findings could be recapitulated in vitro and infected primary CD4+ T cells with HIV-based vectors pseudotyped with VSV-G or HIV envelopes.

Africa-specific human genetic variation near CHD1L associates with HIV-1 load.

HIV-1 remains a global health crisis, highlighting the need to identify new targets for therapies. Here, given the disproportionate HIV-1 burden and marked human genome diversity in Africa, we assessed the genetic determinants of control of set-point viral load in 3,879 people of African ancestries living with HIV-1 participating in the international collaboration for the genomics of HIV. We identify a previously undescribed association signal on chromosome 1 where the peak variant associates with an approximately 0.

The Impact of Epitranscriptomics on Antiviral Innate Immunity.

Epitranscriptomics, i.e., chemical modifications of RNA molecules, has proven to be a new layer of modulation and regulation of protein expression, asking for the revisiting of some aspects of cellular biology.

Exploring m6A and m5C Epitranscriptomes upon Viral Infection: an Example with HIV.

The role of RNA modifications in biological processes has been the focus of an increasing number of studies in the last few years and is known nowadays as epitranscriptomics. Among others, N6-methyladenosine (mA) and 5-methylcytosine (mC) RNA modifications have been described on mRNA molecules and may have a role in modulating cellular processes. Epitranscriptomics is thus a new layer of regulation that must be considered in addition to transcriptomic analyses, as it can also be altered or modulated by exposure to any chemical or biological agent, including viral infections.

Role of the cellular factor CTCF in the regulation of bovine leukemia virus latency and three-dimensional chromatin organization.

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV)-induced tumoral development is a multifactorial phenomenon that remains incompletely understood. Here, we highlight the critical role of the cellular CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) both in the regulation of BLV transcriptional activities and in the deregulation of the three-dimensional (3D) chromatin architecture surrounding the BLV integration site. We demonstrated the in vivo recruitment of CTCF to three conserved CTCF binding motifs along the provirus.

Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Heterogeneity of Virus Infection, Pathogenicity, and Host Responses: HIV as a Pioneering Example.

While analyses of cell populations provide averaged information about viral infections, single-cell analyses offer individual consideration, thereby revealing a broad spectrum of diversity as well as identifying extreme phenotypes that can be exploited to further understand the complex virus-host interplay. Single-cell technologies applied in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection proved to be valuable tools to help uncover specific biomarkers as well as novel candidate players in virus-host interactions. This review aims at providing an updated overview of single-cell analyses in the field of HIV and acquired knowledge on HIV infection, latency, and host response.

Single-Cell RNA-Seq Reveals Transcriptional Heterogeneity in Latent and Reactivated HIV-Infected Cells.

Despite effective treatment, HIV can persist in latent reservoirs, which represent a major obstacle toward HIV eradication. Targeting and reactivating latent cells is challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of HIV-infected cells. Here, we used a primary model of HIV latency and single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize transcriptional heterogeneity during HIV latency and reactivation.

The use of single-cell RNA-Seq to understand virus-host interactions.

Single-cell analyses allow uncovering cellular heterogeneity, not only per se, but also in response to viral infection. Similarly, single cell transcriptome analyses (scRNA-Seq) can highlight specific signatures, identifying cell subsets with particular phenotypes, which are relevant in the understanding of virus-host interactions.