Host Cell Redox Alterations Promote Latent HIV-1 Reactivation through Atypical Transcription Factor Cooperativity
2022
Emily Cruz-Lorenzo | Nora-Guadalupe P. Ramirez | Jeon Lee | Sonali Pandhe | Lei Wang | Juan Hernandez-Doria | Adam M. Spivak | Vicente Planelles | Tianna Petersen | Mamta K. Jain | Elisabeth D. Martinez | Iván D’Orso
Immune cell state alterations rewire HIV-1 gene expression, thereby influencing viral latency and reactivation, but the mechanisms are still unfolding. Here, using a screen approach on CD4<sup>+</sup> T cell models of HIV-1 latency, we revealed Small Molecule Reactivators (SMOREs) with unique chemistries altering the CD4<sup>+</sup> T cell state and consequently promoting latent HIV-1 transcription and reactivation through an unprecedented mechanism of action. SMOREs triggered rapid oxidative stress and activated a redox-responsive program composed of cell-signaling kinases (MEK-ERK axis) and atypical transcription factor (AP-1 and HIF-1α) cooperativity. SMOREs induced an unusual AP-1 phosphorylation signature to promote AP-1/HIF-1α binding to the latent HIV-1 proviral genome for its activation. Consistently, latent HIV-1 reactivation was compromised with pharmacologic inhibition of oxidative stress sensing or of cell-signaling kinases, and transcription factor’s loss of expression, thus functionally linking the host redox-responsive program to viral transcriptional rewiring. Notably, SMOREs induced the redox program in primary CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells and reactivated latent HIV-1 in aviremic patient samples alone and in combination with known latency-reversing agents, thus providing physiological relevance. Our findings suggest that manipulation of redox-sensitive pathways could be exploited to alter the course of HIV-1 latency, thus rendering host cells responsive to help achieve a sterilizing cure.
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