In patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the HIV-Tat protein may be continually produced despite adequate antiretroviral therapy. As the HIV-infected population is aging, it ...is becoming increasingly important to understand how HIV-Tat may interact with proteins such as amyloid β and Tau which accumulate in the aging brain and eventually result in Alzheimer’s disease. In this review, we examine the in vivo data from HIV-infected patients and animal models and the in vitro experiments that show how protein complexes between HIV-Tat and amyloid β occur through novel protein-protein interactions and how HIV-Tat may influence the pathways for amyloid β production, degradation, phagocytosis, and transport. HIV-Tat may also induce Tau phosphorylation through a cascade of cellular processes that lead to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, another hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. We also identify gaps in knowledge and future directions for research. Available evidence suggests that HIV-Tat may accelerate Alzheimer-like pathology in patients with HIV infection which cannot be impacted by current antiretroviral therapy.
The delivery of free molecules into the cytoplasm and nucleus by using arginine‐rich cell‐penetrating peptides (CPPs) has been limited to small cargoes, while large cargoes such as proteins are taken ...up and trapped in endocytic vesicles. Based on recent work, in which we showed that the transduction efficiency of arginine‐rich CPPs can be greatly enhanced by cyclization, the aim was to use cyclic CPPs to transport full‐length proteins, in this study green fluorescent protein (GFP), into the cytosol of living cells. Cyclic and linear CPP–GFP conjugates were obtained by using azido‐functionalized CPPs and an alkyne‐functionalized GFP. Our findings reveal that the cyclic‐CPP–GFP conjugates are internalized into live cells with immediate bioavailability in the cytosol and the nucleus, whereas linear CPP analogues do not confer GFP transduction. This technology expands the application of cyclic CPPs to the efficient transport of functional full‐length proteins into live cells.
Cycle trip: The conjugation of cyclic cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) to full‐length GFP enables direct protein transport into the cell. The cyclic‐CPP–GFP conjugates are internalized into live cells with immediate bioavailability, whereas linear CPP analogues are not efficient for GFP transduction. This technology expands the application of cyclic CPPs to the efficient transport of functional full‐length proteins into live cells.
Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative tumor showing an increased frequency and aggressiveness in HIV-infected subjects (AIDS-KS), due to the combined effects of inflammatory cytokines (IC), ...angiogenic factors, and the HIV-1 Tat protein. While the introduction of effective combined antiretroviral regimens greatly improved AIDS-KS incidence and course, it continues to be an incurable disease and the development of new rational targeted therapies is warranted. We used the BKV/Tat transgenic mouse model to evaluate the effects of IC and anti-Tat antibodies (Abs) treatment on KS-like lesions arising in BKV/Tat mice. We demonstrated here that IC-treatment increases the severity and delays the regression of KS-like lesions. Further, anti-Tat Abs reduced KS-like lesion severity developing in IC-treated mice when anti-Tat Abs were administered at an early-stage of lesion development as compared to more advanced lesions. Early anti-Tat Abs treatment also accelerated KS-like lesion regression and reduced the rate of severe-grade lesions. This effect was more evident in the first weeks after Ab treatment, suggesting that a longer treatment with anti-Tat Abs might be even more effective, particularly if administered just after lesion development. Although preliminary, these results are encouraging, and the approach deserves further studies for the development of anti-Tat Ab-based therapies for AIDS-KS. Clinical studies specifically addressing the effect of anti-Tat antibodies in treating AIDS-KS are not yet available. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of anti-Tat antibodies in controlling HIV/AIDS progression, likely due to the neutralization of extracellular Tat activities, is suggested by several cross-sectional and longitudinal clinical studies, indicating that anti-Tat Ab treatment or Tat-based vaccines may be effective to treat AIDS-KS patients or prevent the tumor in individuals at risk.
The treatment of central nervous system diseases such as brain glioma is a major challenge due to the presence of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). A cell-penetrating peptide TAT (AYGRKKRRQRRR), which ...appears to enter cells with alacrity, was employed to enhance the delivery efficiency of normal drug formulation to the brain. Targeting liposomal formulations often apply modified phospholipids as anchors. However, cholesterol, another liposomal component more stable and cheaper, has not been fully investigated as an alternative anchor. In our study, TAT was covalently conjugated with cholesterol for preparing doxorubicin-loaded liposome for brain glioma therapy. Cellular uptake by brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) and C6 glioma cells was explored. The anti-proliferative activity against C6s confirmed strong inhibitory effect of the liposomes modified with doxorubicin-loaded TAT. The bio-distribution findings in brains and hearts were evident of higher efficiency of brain delivery and lower cardiotoxic risk. The results on survival of the brain glioma-bearing animals indicate that survival time of the glioma-bearing rats treated with TAT-modified liposome was much longer than in the other groups. In conclusion, the potency of the TAT-modified liposome to enter the BBB appears to be related with the TAT on the liposome's surface. The TAT-modified liposome may improve the therapeutic efficacy on brain glioma
in vitro and
in vivo.
Superelongation complexes (SECs) are essential for transcription elongation of many human genes, including the integrated HIV-1 genome. At the HIV-1 promoter, the viral Tat protein binds ...simultaneously to the nascent TAR RNA and the CycT1 subunit of the P-TEFb kinase in a SEC. To understand the preferential recruitment of SECs by Tat and TAR, we determined the crystal structure of a quaternary complex containing Tat, P-TEFb, and the SEC scaffold, AFF4. Tat and AFF4 fold on the surface of CycT1 and interact directly. Interface mutations in the AFF4 homolog AFF1 reduced Tat-AFF1 affinity in vivo and Tat-dependent transcription from the HIV promoter. AFF4 binding in the presence of Tat partially orders the CycT1 Tat-TAR recognition motif and increases the affinity of Tat-P-TEFb for TAR 30-fold. These studies indicate that AFF4 acts as a two-step filter to increase the selectivity of Tat and TAR for SECs over P-TEFb alone.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02375.001.
Arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides are short cationic peptides capable of traversing the plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. While successful intracellular delivery of many biologically active ...macromolecules has been accomplished using these peptides, their mechanisms of cell entry are still under investigation. Recent dialogue has centered on a debate over the roles that direct translocation and endocytotic pathways play in internalization of cell-penetrating peptides. In this paper, we review the evidence for the broad range of proposed mechanisms, and show that each distinct process requires negative Gaussian membrane curvature as a necessary condition. Generation of negative Gaussian curvature by cell-penetrating peptides is directly related to their arginine content. We illustrate these concepts using HIV TAT as an example.
During evolution, viruses had to adapt to an increasingly complex environment of eukaryotic cells. Viral proteins that need to enter the cell nucleus or associate with nucleoli possess nuclear ...localization signals (NLSs) and nucleolar localization signals (NoLSs) for nuclear and nucleolar accumulation, respectively. As viral proteins are relatively small, acquisition of novel sequences seems to be a more complicated task for viruses than for eukaryotes. Here, we carried out a comprehensive analysis of the basic domain (BD) of HIV-1 Tat to show how viral proteins might evolve with NLSs and NoLSs without an increase in protein size. The HIV-1 Tat BD is involved in several functions, the most important being the transactivation of viral transcription. The BD also functions as an NLS, although it is substantially longer than a typical NLS. It seems that different regions in the BD could function as NLSs due to its enrichment with positively charged amino acids. Additionally, the high positive net charge inevitably causes the BD to function as an NoLS through a charge-specific mechanism. The integration of NLSs and NoLSs into functional domains enriched with positively charged amino acids might be a mechanism that allows the condensation of different functional sequences in small protein regions and, as a result, reduces protein size, influencing the origin and evolution of NLSs and NoLSs in viruses.
Here, we investigated the molecular mechanism of nuclear localization signal (NLS) and nucleolar localization signal (NoLS) integration into the basic domain of HIV-1 Tat (
RKKRRQRRR
) and found that these two supplementary functions (i.e., function of NLS and function of NoLS) are embedded in the basic domain amino acid sequence. The integration of NLSs and NoLSs into functional domains of viral proteins enriched with positively charged amino acids is a mechanism that allows the concentration of different functions within small protein regions. Integration of NLS and NoLS into functional protein domains might have influenced the viral evolution, as this could prevent an increase in the protein size.
RNA interference is one of the prosperous approaches for cancer treatment. However, small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery to cancer cells has been faced with various challenges restricting their ...clinical application over the decades. Since ROR1 is an onco‐embryonic gene overexpressed in many malignancies, suppression of ROR1 by siRNA can potentially fight cancer. Herein, a delivery system for ROR1 siRNA based on HIV‐1 TAT peptide‐capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs) was developed to treat breast cancer. Besides, we introduced a new feasible method for conjugating the peptide to the nanoparticles. Since the GNPs have high affinity to the sulfur, the findings demonstrated the peptide successfully conjugated to the nanoparticles via Au–S bonds. As positively charged nanoparticles showed high cellular uptake, we could use a low concentration of nanoparticles led to high efficient gene transfection with negligible cytotoxicity that was confirmed by flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, gel retardation, and 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Following transfection, downregulation of ROR1 and its targeted gene, CCND1, induced apoptosis in cancer cells. In conclusion, the reported capped GNPs could be potentially utilized for delivering negatively charged therapeutic agents in particular genes.
HIV‐1 TAT cell penetrating peptide is conjugated to gold nanoparticles by replacing with cetyltriethyl ammonium bromide molecules. The positively charged nanoparticles are able to interact with ROR1 small interfering RNA electrostatically. HIV‐1 TAT peptides enhance cellular uptake of the prepared complexes.
Astroglia are indispensable component of the tripartite synapse ensheathing innumerous soma and synapses. Its proximity to neurons aids the regulation of neuronal functions, health and survival ...through dynamic neuroglia crosstalk. Susceptibility of astrocyte to HIV‐1 infection and subsequent latency culminates in compromised neuronal health. The viral protein HIV‐1 transactivator of transcription (Tat) is neurotoxic. HIV‐1 Tat is detected in brain of AIDS patients even in cases where viral load is non‐detectable due to successful HAART therapy. Recently, we demonstrated that HIV‐1 Tat triggers excess ATP release from astrocytes that causes neuronal death by activating purinergic receptor system. Using well‐characterized model system of human primary astrocytes and neurons, we probed into the molecular mechanism for enhanced ATP release in HIV‐1 Tat affected astrocytes. HIV‐1 Tat modulated the miRNA machinery in astrocytes and perturbed the levels of voltage dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), a channel present in the outer mitochondrial membrane and plasma membrane that regulates extracellular ATP release. Our studies with autopsy tissue sections also showed concordantly dysregulated VDAC1 and miR‐320a levels in HIV‐1 patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We report a novel molecular cascade of miRNA‐mediated ATP release through regulation of VDAC1. Downregulation of VDAC1 either with miR‐320a mimic or VDAC1 siRNA in HIV‐1 Tat‐affected astroglia could rescue the neurons from glia‐mediated indirect death. Our findings reveal a novel upstream therapeutic target that could be employed to thwart the astroglia‐mediated neurotoxicity in HIV‐1 neuropathogenesis. GLIA 2017;65:250–263
Main Points
HIV‐1 reduces miR‐320a expression and upregulates its target VDAC1, this dysregulation is mediated by HIV‐1 Tat.
Perturbed miR‐320‐VDAC1 molecular pathway leads to excess of ATP release from astrocytes compromising neuronal survival.
Each time the virus starts a new round of expression/replication, even under effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), the transactivator of viral transcription Tat is one of the first HIV-1 protein to ...be produced, as it is strictly required for HIV replication and spreading. At this stage, most of the Tat protein exits infected cells, accumulates in the extracellular matrix and exerts profound effects on both the virus and neighbor cells, mostly of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Through these effects, extracellular Tat contributes to the acquisition of infection, spreading and progression to AIDS in untreated patients, or to non-AIDS co-morbidities in ART-treated individuals, who experience inflammation and immune activation despite virus suppression. Here, we review the role of extracellular Tat in both the virus life cycle and on cells of the innate and adaptive immune system, and we provide epidemiological and experimental evidence of the importance of targeting Tat to block residual HIV expression and replication. Finally, we briefly review vaccine studies showing that a therapeutic Tat vaccine intensifies ART, while its inclusion in a preventative vaccine may blunt escape from neutralizing antibodies and block early events in HIV acquisition.
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