Cell Reports (Aug 2020)

Sialyl-LewisX Glycoantigen Is Enriched on Cells with Persistent HIV Transcription during Therapy

  • Florent Colomb,
  • Leila B. Giron,
  • Leticia Kuri-Cervantes,
  • Opeyemi S. Adeniji,
  • Tongcui Ma,
  • Harsh Dweep,
  • Emilie Battivelli,
  • Eric Verdin,
  • Clovis S. Palmer,
  • Hiroaki Tateno,
  • Andrew V. Kossenkov,
  • Nadia R. Roan,
  • Michael R. Betts,
  • Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 32, no. 5
p. 107991

Abstract

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Summary: A comprehensive understanding of the phenotype of persistent HIV-infected cells, transcriptionally active and/or transcriptionally inactive, is imperative for developing a cure. The relevance of cell-surface glycosylation to HIV persistence has never been explored. We characterize the relationship between cell-surface glycomic signatures and persistent HIV transcription in vivo. We find that the cell surface of CD4+ T cells actively transcribing HIV, despite suppressive therapy, harbors high levels of fucosylated carbohydrate ligands, including the cell extravasation mediator Sialyl-LewisX (SLeX), compared with HIV-infected transcriptionally inactive cells. These high levels of SLeX are induced by HIV transcription in vitro and are maintained after therapy in vivo. Cells with high-SLeX are enriched with markers associated with HIV susceptibility, signaling pathways that drive HIV transcription, and pathways involved in leukocyte extravasation. We describe a glycomic feature of HIV-infected transcriptionally active cells that not only differentiates them from their transcriptionally inactive counterparts but also may affect their trafficking abilities.

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