Giuseppe Marzio

In vitro evolution of a highly replicating, doxycycline-dependent HIV for applications in vaccine studies

A major concern associated with the use of vaccines based on live-attenuated viruses is the possible and well documented reversion to pathogenic phenotypes. In the case of HIV, genomic deletions or mutations introduced to attenuate viral pathogenicity can be repaired by selection of compensating mutations. These events lead to increased virus replication rates and, eventually, disease progression. Because replication competence and degree of protection appear to be directly correlated, further attenuation of a vaccine virus may compromise the ability to elicit a protective immune response. Here, we describe an approach toward a safe attenuated HIV vaccine. The system is not based on permanent reduction of infectivity by alteration of important viral genomic sequences, but on strict control of replication through the insertion of the tetracycline (Tet) system in the HIV genome. Furthermore, extensive in vitro evolution was applied to the prototype Tet-controlled HIV to select for variants with optimized rather than diminished replication capacity. The final product of evolution has properties uniquely suited for use as a vaccine strain. The evolved virus is highly infectious, as opposed to a canonically attenuated virus. It replicates efficiently in T cell lines and in activated and unstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Most importantly, replication is strictly dependent on the nontoxic Tetanalogue doxycycline and can be turned on and off. These results suggest that this in vitro evolved, doxycycline-dependent HIV might represent a useful tool toward the development of a safer, live-attenuated HIV vaccine.

Efficient Human Immunodeficiency Virus Replication Requires a Fine-Tuned Level of Transcription

ABSTRACT Transcription represents a crucial step in the life cycle of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and is highly regulated. Here we show that the strength of the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter is optimized for efficient replication. Artificially increasing the rate of LTR-driven transcription was strongly detrimental for viral fitness, and HIV was able to regain replication capacity by selecting for variants with a weaker LTR. Strikingly, the strength of the evolved promoter was equivalent to that of the wild-type LTR.

Chromatin control of HIV‐1 gene expression

Upon infection of susceptible cells, the RNA genome of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) is reverse transcribed into double-stranded DNA, which can be subsequently integrated into the cellular genome. After integration, the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter is present in a nucleosome-bound conformation and is transcriptionally silent in the absence of stimulation. Activation of HIV-1 gene expression is concomitant with an acetylation-dependent rearrangement of the nucleosome positioned at the viral transcription start site. Thus, similar to most cellular genes, the transcriptional state of the integrated HIV-1 provirus is closely linked to histone acetylation. This enzymatic activity results from the function of histone-specific nuclear acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes. Efficient viral transcription is strongly dependent on the virally-encoded Tat protein. The mechanism by which Tat increases the rate of transcriptional initiation has been recently demonstrated and involves the interaction of Tat with the transcriptional coactivator p300 and the closely related CREB-binding protein (CBP), having histone acetyltransferase activity.

The genetic stability of a conditional live HIV-1 variant can be improved by mutations in the tet-on regulatory system that restrain evolution

Live attenuated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccines are considered unsafe because more quickly replicating pathogenic virus variants may evolve after vaccination. As an alternative vaccine approach, we have previously presented a doxycycline (dox)-dependent HIV-1 variant that was constructed by incorporating the tetracycline-inducible gene expression system (Tet-On system) into the viral genome. Replication of this HIV-rtTA variant is driven by the dox-inducible transcriptional activator rtTA and can be switched on and off at will. A large scale evolution study was performed to test the genetic stability of this conditional live vaccine candidate. In several long term cultures, we selected for HIV-rtTA variants that no longer required dox for replication. These evolved variants acquired a typical amino acid substitution either at position 19 or 37 in the rtTA protein. Both mutations caused rtTA activity and viral replication in the absence of dox. We designed a novel rtTA variant with a higher genetic barrier toward these undesired evolutionary routes. The corresponding HIV-rtTA variant did not lose dox control in long term cultures, demonstrating its improved genetic stability.

Conditional virus replication as an approach to a safe live attenuated human immunodeficiency virus vaccine

Despite intensive efforts, no safe and effective vaccine has been developed for the prophylaxis of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Studies with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/macaque model demonstrated that live attenuated viruses are the most effective vaccines tested thus far. However, due to ongoing low-level replication of the attenuated virus and the error-prone replication machinery, the attenuated virus may regain replication capacity and become pathogenic. We therefore designed a novel vaccine strategy with an HIV-1 virus that replicates exclusively in the presence of the nontoxic effector doxycycline (dox). This was achieved by replacement of the viral TAR-Tat system for transcriptional activation by the Escherichia coli-derived Tet system for inducible gene expression. This designer HIV-rtTA virus replicates in a strictly dox-dependent manner and may represent an improved vaccine strain because its replication can be turned on and off at will. Spontaneous virus evolution resulted in optimization of the components of the Tet system for their new function to support virus replication in human cells. The optimised Tet system may be of particular use in other applications such as inducible expression of gene therapy vectors in the brain.