Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs), the most abundant white blood cells, are recruited rapidly to sites of infection to exert potent anti-microbial activity. Information regarding their role in infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is limited. Here we report that addition of PMNs to HIV-infected cultures of human tonsil tissue or peripheral blood mononuclear cells causes immediate and long-lasting suppression of HIV-1 spread and virus-induced depletion of CD4 T cells. This inhibition of HIV-1 spread strictly requires PMN contact with infected cells and is not mediated by soluble factors. 2-Photon (2PM) imaging visualized contacts of PMNs with HIV-1-infected CD4 T cells in tonsil tissue that do not result in lysis or uptake of infected cells. The anti-HIV activity of PMNs also does not involve degranulation, formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, or integrin-dependent cell communication. These results reveal that PMNs efficiently blunt HIV-1 replication in primary target cells and tissue by an unconventional mechanism.

There is a significantly higher risk for type II diabetes in HIV-1 carriers, albeit the molecular mechanism for this HIV-related pathology remains enigmatic. The 52 amino acid HIV-1 p6 Gag protein is synthesized as the C-terminal part of the Gag polyprotein Pr55. In this context, p6 promotes virus release by its two late (L-) domains, and facilitates the incorporation of the viral accessory protein Vpr. However, the function of p6 in its mature form, after proteolytic release from Gag, has not been investigated yet. We found that the mature p6 represents the first known viral substrate of the ubiquitously expressed cytosolic metalloendopeptidase insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE). IDE is sufficient and required for degradation of p6, and p6 is approximately 100-fold more efficiently degraded by IDE than its eponymous substrate insulin. This observation appears to be specific for HIV-1, as p6 proteins from HIV-2 and simian immunodeficiency virus, as well as the 51 amino acid p9 from equine infectious anaemia virus were insensitive to IDE degradation. The amount of virus-associated p6, as well as the efficiency of release and maturation of progeny viruses does not depend on the presence of IDE in the host cells, as it was shown by CRISPR/Cas9 edited IDE KO cells. However, HIV-1 mutants harboring IDE-insensitive p6 variants exhibit reduced virus replication capacity, a phenomenon that seems to depend on the presence of an X4-tropic Env. Furthermore, competing for IDE by exogenous insulin or inhibiting IDE by the highly specific inhibitor 6bK, also reduced virus replication. This effect could be specifically attributed to IDE since replication of HIV-1 variants coding for an IDE-insensitive p6 were inert towards IDE-inhibition. Our cumulative data support a model in which removal of p6 during viral entry is important for virus replication, at least in the case of X4 tropic HIV-1.

HIV-1 NL4-3 Vpu induces downregulation of cell surface CD155, a ligand for the DNAM-1 activating receptor of NK and CD8(+) T cells, to evade NK cell mediated immune response. Here we show that the conserved alanine residues at positions 10, 14 and 18 in the TM domain of Vpu are required for the efficient downregulation of cell surface CD155. In contrast, the CK-2 phosphorylation sites and the second α-helix in the cytoplasmic Vpu domain have no influence on the surface expression of CD155. Thus, compared to Vpu׳s effect on CD4, NTB-A and tetherin, the Vpu mediated downregulation of CD155 is an independent Vpu function. We finally show that in contrast to other lentiviral strains, only Vpu and Nef from HIV-1 M NL4-3 potently interfere with CD155 surface expression. Thus, Vpu seems to subvert NK cell responses against HIV-1 infected T cells by modulation of receptors necessary for NK cell activation.

HIV-1 Vpu induces downregulation of cell surface NTB-A to evade lysis of HIV-1 infected cells by NK cells. Here we show that Vpu affects the anterograde transport and the glycosylation pattern of NTB-A by a mechanism that is distinct from the Vpu induced downregulation of CD4 and tetherin. In the presence of Vpu, only the high mannose form of NTB-A was detectable, suggesting that Vpu prevented the formation of the mature form of NTB-A. This phenomenon is associated with the ability of Vpu to downregulate cell surface NTB-A by retention of NTB-A within the Golgi-compartment. Furthermore, the Vpu-mediated effect on NTB-A glycosylation is highly conserved among Vpu proteins derived from HIV-1 and SIV and corresponds to the level of downregulation of NTB-A. Together, these results suggest that the reduction of NTB-A from the cell surface is associated with the Vpu-mediated effect on the glycosylation pattern of newly synthesized NTB-A molecules.