Frontiers in Immunology (Nov 2023)

Identification of drug candidates targeting monocyte reprogramming in people living with HIV

  • Rainer Knoll,
  • Rainer Knoll,
  • Lorenzo Bonaguro,
  • Lorenzo Bonaguro,
  • Jéssica C. dos Santos,
  • Jéssica C. dos Santos,
  • Stefanie Warnat-Herresthal,
  • Stefanie Warnat-Herresthal,
  • Maartje C. P. Jacobs-Cleophas,
  • Maartje C. P. Jacobs-Cleophas,
  • Edda Blümel,
  • Nico Reusch,
  • Arik Horne,
  • Arik Horne,
  • Miriam Herbert,
  • Miriam Herbert,
  • Melanie Nuesch-Germano,
  • Twan Otten,
  • Twan Otten,
  • Wouter A. van der Heijden,
  • Wouter A. van der Heijden,
  • Lisa van de Wijer,
  • Lisa van de Wijer,
  • Alex K. Shalek,
  • Alex K. Shalek,
  • Alex K. Shalek,
  • Kristian Händler,
  • Kristian Händler,
  • Matthias Becker,
  • Marc D. Beyer,
  • Marc D. Beyer,
  • Mihai G. Netea,
  • Mihai G. Netea,
  • Mihai G. Netea,
  • Leo A. B. Joosten,
  • Leo A. B. Joosten,
  • Leo A. B. Joosten,
  • Andre J. A. M. van der Ven,
  • Andre J. A. M. van der Ven,
  • Joachim L. Schultze,
  • Joachim L. Schultze,
  • Joachim L. Schultze,
  • Anna C. Aschenbrenner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1275136
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

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IntroductionPeople living with HIV (PLHIV) are characterized by functional reprogramming of innate immune cells even after long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART). In order to assess technical feasibility of omics technologies for application to larger cohorts, we compared multiple omics data layers.MethodsBulk and single-cell transcriptomics, flow cytometry, proteomics, chromatin landscape analysis by ATAC-seq as well as ex vivo drug stimulation were performed in a small number of blood samples derived from PLHIV and healthy controls from the 200-HIV cohort study.ResultsSingle-cell RNA-seq analysis revealed that most immune cells in peripheral blood of PLHIV are altered in their transcriptomes and that a specific functional monocyte state previously described in acute HIV infection is still existing in PLHIV while other monocyte cell states are only occurring acute infection. Further, a reverse transcriptome approach on a rather small number of PLHIV was sufficient to identify drug candidates for reversing the transcriptional phenotype of monocytes in PLHIV.DiscussionThese scientific findings and technological advancements for clinical application of single-cell transcriptomics form the basis for the larger 2000-HIV multicenter cohort study on PLHIV, for which a combination of bulk and single-cell transcriptomics will be included as the leading technology to determine disease endotypes in PLHIV and to predict disease trajectories and outcomes.

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