2020-08-01
Gliotoxin, identified from a screen of fungal metabolites, disrupts 7SK snRNP, releases P-TEFb, and reverses HIV-1 latency
Publication
Publication
Science advances , Volume 6 - Issue 33 p. eaba6617
A leading pharmacological strategy toward HIV cure requires "shock" or activation of HIV gene expression in latently infected cells with latency reversal agents (LRAs) followed by their subsequent clearance. In a screen for novel LRAs, we used fungal secondary metabolites as a source of bioactive molecules. Using orthogonal mass spectrometry (MS) coupled to latency reversal bioassays, we identified gliotoxin (GTX) as a novel LRA. GTX significantly induced HIV-1 gene expression in latent ex vivo infected primary cells and in CD4+ T cells from all aviremic HIV-1+ participants. RNA sequencing identified 7SK RNA, the scaffold of the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb) inhibitory 7SK small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) complex, to be significantly reduced upon GTX treatment of CD4+ T cells. GTX directly disrupted 7SK snRNP by targeting La-related protein 7 (LARP7), releasing active P-TEFb, which phosphorylated RNA polymerase II (Pol II) C-terminal domain (CTD), inducing HIV transcription.
| Additional Metadata | |
|---|---|
| doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba6617, hdl.handle.net/1765/129980 | |
| Science advances | |
| Organisation | Department of Biochemistry |
