HIV-1 Infection and Immunometabolism: Relevance to HIV Pathogenesis and Persistence 3.0

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 2362

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
National HIV/AIDS Research Center, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
Interests: infectious diseases; clinical virology; HIV infection; HIV persistence; immune responses to viral infections
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue "HIV-1 infection and immunometabolism: relevance to HIV pathogenesis and persistence" and "HIV-1 infection and immunometabolism: relevance to HIV pathogenesis and persistence 2.0" that was launched last two years, collected some interesting manuscripts regarding this topic. It is a great pleasure for me to introduce a third volume of this Special Issue that continues to be dedicated to the interplay between immunometabolism, HIV-1 pathogenesis and viral persistence. There is now an increasing body of evidence that dysfunctional immunometabolism represents a pivotal element to the biased immunity against HIV-1 infection, that leads to viral dissemination and establishment of virus reservoir. HIV-1 infection causes upregulated glycidic and lipidic metabolism and elevated oxidative stress in immune cells. How HIV-1 infection reprograms immunometabolism and the role of these metabolic alterations in the development and maintenance of HIV-1 latency have not been fully elucidated. The immunometabolic defects during HIV-1 infection, even under ART, may have a role also in non-AIDS defining cancers and neurocognitive diseases, representing a potential link between HIV-associated stimuli and age-related comorbidities, such as cardiovascular, bone and renal diseases, and frailty in HIV-positive individuals. Investigation of these topics will be important to more completely understand the role of immunometabolism in HIV-1 pathogenesis, and to have a clearer insight into how these processes interplay and affect HIV persistence.

This Special Issue will collect research or review articles addressing recent advances in the field of this topic. Also, novel approaches and technical advances, allowing for more precise measurements of metabolic activities in immune cells during HIV-1 infection, may be interesting in order to develop metabolic targeted therapies aiming at decreasing inflammation and HIV reservoir size in ART-treated HIV-infected people.

Dr. Sonia Moretti
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • immunometabolism
  • HIV-1
  • inflammation
  • immune activation
  • HIV pathogenesis
  • HIV latency
  • innate/adaptive immunity
  • metabolic diseases
  • non-AIDS-associated comorbidities

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7161 KiB  
Article
Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Human Tonsils Reveals Nicotine Enhances HIV-1-Induced NLRP3 Inflammasome and Mitochondrial Activation
by Nadine Schrode, Trinisia Fortune, Aislinn M. Keane, Jesse F. Mangold, Benjamin Tweel, Kristin G. Beaumont and Talia H. Swartz
Viruses 2024, 16(11), 1797; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16111797 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 832
Abstract
Background: HIV-1 infection, even with effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), is associated with chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction, contributing to long-term health complications. Nicotine use, prevalent among people with HIV (PWH), is known to exacerbate immune activation and disease progression, but the precise biological [...] Read more.
Background: HIV-1 infection, even with effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), is associated with chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction, contributing to long-term health complications. Nicotine use, prevalent among people with HIV (PWH), is known to exacerbate immune activation and disease progression, but the precise biological mechanisms remain to be fully understood. This study sought to uncover the synergistic effects of HIV-1 infection and nicotine on immune cell function, focusing on beneficial insights into NLRP3 inflammasome activation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial pathways. Methods: Human tonsil explants were infected with HIV-1 and exposed to nicotine. Single-cell RNA sequencing was used to profile immune cell populations and gene expression linked to inflammasome activation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and synergy assessments were conducted to investigate how nicotine modulates immune responses in the context of HIV. Results: The combination of HIV infection and nicotine exposure significantly increased NLRP3 inflammasome activation, thioredoxin, and components of oxidative phosphorylation. Conclusions: This study highlights how the combined effects of HIV-1 and nicotine offer valuable insights into immune modulation, opening doors for future therapeutic strategies. Targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome and addressing nicotine use may contribute to improved outcomes for PWH. Full article
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18 pages, 2878 KiB  
Article
New Associations with the HIV Predisposing and Protective Alleles of the Human Leukocyte Antigen System in a Peruvian Population
by Daisy Obispo, Oscar Acosta, Maria L. Guevara, Susan Echavarría, Susan Espetia, María Dedios, Carlos Augusto Yabar and Ricardo Fujita
Viruses 2024, 16(11), 1708; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16111708 - 30 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1007
Abstract
The accurate determination of an individual’s unique human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele holds important significance in evaluating the risk associated with autoimmune and infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Several allelic variants within the HLA system have been linked to [...] Read more.
The accurate determination of an individual’s unique human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele holds important significance in evaluating the risk associated with autoimmune and infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Several allelic variants within the HLA system have been linked to either increased protection or susceptibility in the context of infectious and autoimmune diseases. This study aimed to determine the frequency and association of HLA alleles between people living with HIV (PLHIV) as the case group and Peruvian individuals without HIV with high-risk behaviors of sexually transmitted diseases as the control group. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was used to determine high-resolution HLA allelotypes using the OptiType and arcas HLA tools. The HLA alleles present in HLA classes I (A, B, and C loci) and II (DPB1, DQA1, DQB1, and DRB1 loci) were determined in a cohort of 59 PLHIV (cases) and 44 individuals without HIV (controls). The most frequent HLA alleles were A*02:01, DPB1*04:02, and DQB1*03:419 at 36%, 30%, and 28% prevalence in general population. We found that C*07:01 (p = 0.0101; OR = 10.222, 95% IC: 1.40–74.55), DQA1*03:02 (p = 0.0051; OR = 5.297, 95% IC: 1.48–19.02), and DRB1*09:01 (p = 0.0119; OR = 4.788, 95% IC: 1.39–16.44) showed an association with susceptibility to HIV infection, while DQB1*03:419 (p = 0.0478; OR = 0.327, 95% IC: 0.11–0.96) was associated with protection from HIV infection. Our findings contribute to the knowledge of HLA allele diversity in the Peruvian population (around 70% South American indigenous ancestry) lays the groundwork for further valuable large-scale use of HLA typing and offers a novel association with HIV infection that is relevant to vaccine studies. Full article
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