Bivalent SMAC mimetic APG-1387 reduces HIV reservoirs and limits viral rebound in humanized mice

Summary: Latent viral reservoirs (VRs) represent a main barrier to HIV cure. Thus, developing new approaches that can purge and eliminate VRs paves the path toward achieving an HIV-1 cure. APG-1387, a bivalent SMAC mimetic (SM), efficiently reactivates latent HIV expression in T cell line models and...

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Main Authors: Jaspreet Jain, Tram N.Q. Pham, Sharmin Begum, Maria Carmen Romero-Medina, Nicolas Bellini, Yuanyi Li, Frédéric Dallaire, Kathie Béland, Natasha Patey, Jean V. Guimond, Élie Haddad, Yifan Zhai, Éric A. Cohen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422402697X
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Summary:Summary: Latent viral reservoirs (VRs) represent a main barrier to HIV cure. Thus, developing new approaches that can purge and eliminate VRs paves the path toward achieving an HIV-1 cure. APG-1387, a bivalent SMAC mimetic (SM), efficiently reactivates latent HIV expression in T cell line models and enhances active caspase 3 expression, a condition that typically leads to apoptosis. In primary CD4+ T cells infected with a dual reporter-encoded HIV, APG-1387 decreases latently infected cells without a notable effect on productively infected cells. In virally suppressed humanized (hu)-BLT mice, APG-1387 augments cell-associated viral RNA and potently reduces HIV DNA-containing cells without modulating T cell activation or proliferation. Upon antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption, HIV rebound was decreased in APG-1387-treated humanized mice (hu-mice), and the viremia maintained at levels below that of pre-ART. Thus, the ability of APG-1387 to affect VRs and decrease viral rebound highlights the potential of bivalent SMs in HIV cure strategies.
ISSN:2589-0042