Rôle de l'autophagie dans la dissémination du VIH-1 par les cellules dendritiques dérivées des monocytes circulants

Myeloid cells including monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) contribute to HIV-1 pathogenesis by participating in viral dissemination but also by representing potential viral reservoirs. Myeloid cells functions are exploited by HIV in order for the virus to spread throughout the organism. Notably, HIV-1 infection is associated with alterations in antigen presentation and the loss of pathogen-specific CD4+ T-cells. Autophagy is a universal catabolic process involved in the regulation of antigen presentation subsequent to pathogen neutralization/destruction. Recent studies suggest that HIV inhibits autophagy in DC so that it survives within the host. The goal of the main part of this master’s research project was to characterize the effects of the HIV exposure on the autophagy process in monocytes-derived DC (MDDC) and to identify therapeutic strategies to counteract these effects. The specific aims were to : (i) measure the expression of maturation markers on MDDC exposed to HIV-1 in vitro (ii) quantify the expression of proteins that positively (i.e., ATG5, LC3, p62) or negatively regulate autophagy (i.e., mTOR), (iii) determine autophagy role in HIV-1 trans infection to CD4+ lymphocytes T and (iv) explore the impact of autophagy on antigen presentation by in vitro HIV-infected MDDC. Our results demonstrated that exposure to HIV in vitro dramatically impaired MDDC maturation and their ability to induce proliferation of autologous CD4+ T-cells in response to Staphylococcus aureus and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) but not Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). Exposition of MDDC to HIV-1 was associated with an increase of mTOR, phosphomTOR and p62 expression. Treatment of MDDC with rapamycin decreased mTOR expression and altered MDDC trans infection ability although it failed to restore MDDC immunogenic potential. Indeed, rapamycin diminished CD83 expression on MDDC surface and increased CCR7 expression, indicating that the documented immunosuppressive property of this drug is associated with an impaired MDDC maturation. The second part of this master’s research project focused on the contribution of myeloid cells to HIV-1 reservoir persistence under ART. The objectives were to: (i) evaluate the presence of different forms of viral DNA in circulating monocytes from HIV-1 infected subjects and (ii) determine the viral integration and replication in monocytes-derived macrophages (MDM) from infected individuals receiving viral suppressive ART. Our results show that monocytes harbor early products from viral transcription (RU5 HIV-DNA) and that MDM support viral replication. Together, these very preliminary findings bring evidences that monocytes contribute to viral persistence under ART. Overall, our results indicate that HIV alters the immunogenic potential of DC and that rapamycin limits HIV trans-infection by DC. However, the fact that rapamycin fails to restore the immunogenic potential of DC stresses the need to identify additional strategies to manipulate the autophagy process for an optimal restoration of immune competence in HIV-infected subjects. Myeloid cells play a crucial role in HIV persistence and dissemination and thus must be aimed at when elaborating an antiviral therapy.

Keyphrases: MDDC, Trans infection, ART, Autophagy, Rapamycin, HIV-1, Dendritic cells, Antigen presentation, Myeloid cells, Monocyte, Macrophage