PUBLICATIONS

Endogenous TRIM5α Function Is Regulated by SUMOylation and Nuclear Sequestration for Efficient Innate Sensing in Dendritic Cells.

Portilho DM, Fernandez J, Ringeard M, Machado AK, Boulay A, Mayer M, Müller-Trutwin M, Beignon AS, Kirchhoff F, Nisole S, Arhel NJ.

Cell Rep. 2016 Jan 12;14(2):355-69. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.12.039. Epub 2015 Dec 31.

During retroviral infection, viral capsids are subject to restriction by the cellular factor TRIM5α. Here, we show that dendritic cells (DCs) derived from human and non-human primate species lack efficient TRIM5α-mediated retroviral restriction. In DCs, endogenous TRIM5α accumulates in nuclear bodies (NB) that partly co-localize with Cajal bodies in a SUMOylation-dependent manner. Nuclear sequestration of TRIM5α allowed potent induction of type I interferon (IFN) responses during infection, mediated by sensing of reverse transcribed DNA by cGAS. Overexpression of TRIM5α or treatment with the SUMOylation inhibitor ginkgolic acid (GA) resulted in enforced cytoplasmic TRIM5α expression and restored efficient viral restriction but abrogated type I IFN production following infection. Our results suggest that there is an evolutionary trade-off specific to DCs in which restriction is minimized to maximize sensing. TRIM5α regulation via SUMOylation-dependent nuclear sequestration adds to our understanding of how restriction factors are regulated.

TRIM5α is a SUMO substrate.

Jacques Dutrieux, Débora M Portilho, Nathalie J Arhel, Uriel Hazan and Sébastien Nisole.

Retrovirology. 2015 Mar 24. doi:10.1186/s12977-015-0155-7

The TRIM5α restriction factor interferes with retroviral infections by inhibiting an early step of viral replication. TRIM5α activity was recently proposed to be regulated by the SUMO machinery and one SUMO consensus conjugation site as well as three putative SUMO interacting motifs (SIMs) were identified within TRIM5α sequence. Whereas mutation of the SIM sequences was found to abolish TRIM5α antiviral activity, mutation of the consensus SUMO conjugation site did not affect its restriction capacity, although this putative site has never been shown to be actually a SUMO substrate.

Here we further demonstrate that TRIM5α relies on the SUMO machinery to promote restriction, since SUMO1 overexpression enhances TRIM5α-mediated retroviral inhibition whereas knockdown of SUMO1 or E2 SUMO conjugating enzyme Ubc9 prevents restriction. Furthermore, we show for the first time that TRIM5α is SUMOylated both in vitro and in cellulo and that Lysine 10 is the main SUMOylation site. Mutation of the consensus SUMO conjugation motif in position 10 abrogated SUMOylation at this position, but did not disrupt TRIM5α antiviral activity.

Altogether, our results confirm that the SUMO machinery is involved in TRIM5α-mediated retroviral restriction, and demonstrate that TRIM5α is a SUMO 1 and SUMO 2 substrate. The inability to abrogate TRIM5α antiviral activity by mutating its main SUMO conjugation motif supports the notion that non-covalent interaction with SUMO or SUMOylated proteins rather than TRIM5α direct SUMOylation is required.

Microtubule-Associated Proteins 1 (MAP1) Promote Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type I (HIV-1) Intracytoplasmic Routine to the Nucleus.

Fernandez J, Portilho DM, Danckaert A, Munier S, Becker A, Roux P, Zambo A, Shorte S, Jacob Y, Vidalain PO, Charneau P, Clavel F, Arhel NJ.

J Biol Chem. 2014 Dec 11. pii: jbc.M114.613133.

Throughout the viral replication cycle, viral proteins, complexes, and particles need to be transported within host cells. These transport events are dependent on the host cell cytoskeleton and molecular motors. However, the mechanisms by which virus is trafficked along cytoskeleton filaments and how molecular motors are recruited and regulated to guarantee successful integration of the viral genome and production of new viruses has only recently begun to be understood. Recent studies on HIV have identified specific molecular motors involved in the trafficking of these viral particles. Here we review recent literature on the transport of HIV components in the cell, provide evidence for the identity and role of molecular motors in this process, and highlight how these trafficking events may be related to those occurring with other viruses.

HIV trafficking in host cells: motors wanted!

Gaudin R, Alencar BC, Arhel N, Benaroch P.

Trends Cell Biol. 2013 Oct 9. pii: S0962-8924(13)00156-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2013.09.004.

Human nucleoporins promote HIV-1 docking at the nuclear pore, nuclear import and integration.

Di Nunzio F, Danckaert A, Fricke T, Perez P, Fernandez J, Perret E, Roux P, Shorte S, Charneau P, Diaz-Griffero F, Arhel NJ

PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e46037. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046037. Epub 2012 Sep 25.

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of macromolecules and is an obligatory point of passage and functional bottleneck in the replication of some viruses. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has evolved the required mechanisms for active nuclear import of its genome through the NPC. However the mechanisms by which the NPC allows or even assists HIV translocation are still unknown. We investigated the involvement of four key nucleoporins in HIV-1 docking, translocation, and integration: Nup358/RanBP2, Nup214/CAN, Nup98 and Nup153. Although all induce defects in infectivity when depleted, only Nup153 actually showed any evidence of participating in HIV-1 translocation through the nuclear pore. We show that Nup358/RanBP2 mediates docking of HIV-1 cores on NPC cytoplasmic filaments by interacting with the cores and that the C-terminus of Nup358/RanBP2 comprising a cyclophilin-homology domain contributes to binding. We also show that Nup214/CAN and Nup98 play no role in HIV-1 nuclear import per se: Nup214/CAN plays an indirect role in infectivity read-outs through its effect on mRNA export, while the reduction of expression of Nup98 shows a slight reduction in proviral integration. Our work shows the involvement of nucleoporins in diverse and functionally separable steps of HIV infection and nuclear import.

Superresolution imaging of HIV in infected cells with FlAsH-PALM.

Lelek M, Di Nunzio F, Henriques R, Charneau P, Arhel N, Zimmer C

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 May 29;109(22):8564-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas. 1013267109. Epub 2012 May 14.

Imaging protein assemblies at molecular resolution without affecting biological function is a long-standing goal. The diffraction-limited resolution of conventional light microscopy (∼200-300 nm) has been overcome by recent superresolution (SR) methods including techniques based on accurate localization of molecules exhibiting stochastic fluorescence; however, SR methods still suffer important restrictions inherent to the protein labeling strategies. Antibody labels are encumbered by variable specificity, limited commercial availability and affinity, and are mostly restricted to fixed cells. Fluorescent protein fusions, though compatible with live cell imaging, substantially increase protein size and can interfere with their biological activity. We demonstrate SR imaging of proteins tagged with small tetracysteine motifs and the fluorescein arsenical helix binder (FlAsH-PALM). We applied FlAsH-PALM to image the integrase enzyme (IN) of HIV in fixed and living cells under experimental conditions that fully preserved HIV infectivity. The obtained resolution (∼30 nm) allowed us to characterize the distribution of IN within virions and intracellular complexes and to distinguish different HIV structural populations based on their morphology. We could thus discriminate ∼100 nm long mature conical cores from immature Gag shells and observe that in infected cells cytoplasmic (but not nuclear) IN complexes display a morphology similar to the conical capsid. Together with the presence of capsid proteins, our data suggest that cytoplasmic IN is largely present in intact capsids and that these can be found deep within the cytoplasm. FlAsH-PALM opens the door to in vivo SR studies of microbial complexes within host cells and may help achieve truly molecular resolution.

Residual HIV-1 DNA Flap-independent nuclear import of cPPT/CTS double mutant viruses does not support spreading infection.

Iglesias C, Ringeard M, Di Nunzio F, Fernandez J, Gaudin R, Souque P, Charneau P, Arhel N.

Retrovirology. 2011 Nov 10;8:92. doi: 10.1186/1742-4690-8-92.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) central DNA Flap is generated during reverse transcription as a result of (+) strand initiation at the central polypurine tract (cPPT) and termination after a ca. 100 bp strand displacement at the central termination sequence (CTS). The central DNA Flap is a determinant of HIV-1 nuclear import, however, neither cPPT nor CTS mutations entirely abolish nuclear import and infection. Therefore, to determine whether or not the DNA Flap is essential for HIV-1 nuclear import, we generated double mutant (DM) viruses, combining cPPT and CTS mutations to abolish DNA Flap formation. The combination of cPPT and CTS mutations reduced the proportion of viruses forming the central DNA Flap at the end of reverse transcription and further decreased virus infectivity in one-cycle titration assays. The most affected DM viruses were unable to establish a spreading infection in the highly permissive MT4 cell line, nor in human primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), indicating that the DNA Flap is required for virus replication. Surprisingly, we found that DM viruses still maintained residual nuclear import levels, amounting to 5-15% of wild-type virus, as assessed by viral DNA circle quantification. Alu-PCR quantification of integrated viral genome also indicated 5-10% residual integration levels compared to wild-type virus. This work establishes that the central DNA Flap is required for HIV-1 spreading infection but points to a residual DNA Flap independent nuclear import, whose functional significance remains unclear since it is not sufficient to support viral replication.

Revisiting HIV-1 uncoating.

Arhel N.

Retrovirology. 2010 Nov 17;7:96. doi: 10.1186/1742-4690-7-96. Review.

HIV uncoating is defined as the loss of viral capsid that occurs within the cytoplasm of infected cells before entry of the viral genome into the nucleus. It is an obligatory step of HIV-1 early infection and accompanies the transition between reverse transcription complexes (RTCs), in which reverse transcription occurs, and pre-integration complexes (PICs), which are competent to integrate into the host genome. The study of the nature and timing of HIV-1 uncoating has been paved with difficulties, particularly as a result of the vulnerability of the capsid assembly to experimental manipulation. Nevertheless, recent studies of capsid structure, retroviral restriction and mechanisms of nuclear import, as well as the recent expansion of technical advances in genome-wide studies and cell imagery approaches, have substantially changed our understanding of HIV uncoating. Although early work suggested that uncoating occurs immediately following viral entry in the cell, thus attributing a trivial role for the capsid in infected cells, recent data suggest that uncoating occurs several hours later and that capsid has an all-important role in the cell that it infects: for transport towards the nucleus, reverse transcription and nuclear import. Knowing that uncoating occurs at a later stage suggests that the viral capsid interacts extensively with the cytoskeleton and other cytoplasmic components during its transport to the nucleus, which leads to a considerable reassessment of our efforts to identify potential therapeutic targets for HIV therapy. This review discusses our current understanding of HIV uncoating, the functional interplay between infectivity and timely uncoating, as well as exposing the appropriate methods to study uncoating and addressing the many questions that remain unanswered.

Bisarsenical labeling of HIV-1 for real-time fluorescence microscopy.

Arhel NJ, Charneau P.

Methods Mol Biol. 2009;485:151-9. doi: 10.1007/978-1-59745-170-3_11.

Imaging studies have benefited from the development of a novel technique for non-destructive labeling of proteins within living cells, based on the use of a reagent called FlAsH-EDT2, a bisarsenical derivative of fluorescein capable of binding with high affinity and specificity to a tetracysteine motif in the protein of interest. This technique has been adapted for the stable, sensitive and specific molecular tagging of HIV-1 IN enabling the tracking of incoming viral particles inside infected living cells. Here we present the experimental steps required for the efficient labeling of HIV-1 IN, namely, molecular insertion of a tetracysteine tag, production of viruses, labeling in vitro of tagged viruses, infection of target cells and visualization of particles by fluorescence microscopy.

Trafficking Avenir Group

- Toward the nucleus -

Publications