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. 2023 Jun 29;97(6):e0029423.
doi: 10.1128/jvi.00294-23. Epub 2023 Jun 5.

Inhibition of Infectious HIV-1 Production by Rerouting the Cellular Furin Inhibitor Serpin B8

Affiliations

Inhibition of Infectious HIV-1 Production by Rerouting the Cellular Furin Inhibitor Serpin B8

Moritz Petersen et al. J Virol. .

Abstract

Serpins are a superfamily of proteins that regulate a variety of physiological processes by irreversibly inhibiting the enzymatic activity of different serine proteases. For example, Serpin Family B Member 8 (Serpin B8, also known as PI8 and CAP2) binds to and inhibits the proprotein convertase furin. Like many other viral pathogens, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) exploits furin for the proteolytic activation of its envelope glycoprotein (Env). Since the furin inhibitor Serpin B8 is expressed in primary target cells of HIV-1 and induced under inflammatory conditions, we hypothesized that it might interfere with HIV-1 Env maturation and decrease infectivity of newly produced virions. Indeed, recombinant Serpin B8 reduced furin-mediated cleavage of an HIV-1 Env reporter substrate in vitro. However, Serpin B8 did not affect Env maturation or reduce HIV-1 particle infectivity when expressed in HIV-1-producing cells. Immunofluorescence imaging, dimerization assays and in silico sequence analyses revealed that Serpin B8 failed to inhibit intracellular furin since both proteins localized to different subcellular compartments. We therefore aimed at rendering Serpin B8 active against HIV-1 by relocalizing it to furin-containing secretory compartments. Indeed, the addition of a heterologous signal peptide conferred potent anti-HIV-1 activity to Serpin B8 and significantly decreased infectivity of newly produced viral particles. Thus, our findings demonstrate that subcellular relocalization of a cellular protease inhibitor can result in efficient inhibition of infectious HIV-1 production. IMPORTANCE Many cellular proteases serve as dependency factors during viral infection and are hijacked by viruses for the maturation of their own (glyco)proteins. Consequently, inhibition of these cellular proteases may represent a means to inhibit the spread of viral infection. For example, several studies have investigated the serine protease furin as a potential therapeutic target since this protease cleaves and activates several viral envelope proteins, including HIV-1 Env. Besides the development of small molecule inhibitors, cell-intrinsic protease inhibitors may also be exploited to advance current antiviral treatment approaches. Here, we show that Serpin B8, an endogenous furin inhibitor, can inhibit HIV-1 Env maturation and efficiently reduce infectious HIV-1 production when rerouted to the secretory pathway. The results of our study not only provide important insights into the biology of Serpins, but also show how protein engineering of an endogenous furin inhibitor can render it active against HIV-1.

Keywords: Env; Furin; Serpin B8; human immunodeficiency virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
Serpin B8 is expressed in HIV-1 target cells and reduces furin activity in vitro. (A) Western blot of primary CD4+ T cells and primary monocyte-derived macrophages. CD4+ T cells were stimulated with IL-2, PHA or TNF-α as indicated, and infected with different clones of HIV-1 (NL4-3, CH293, CH077, STCO1, CH198). Three days postinfection, cells were lysed, and the amount of Serpin B8 was determined by Western blotting. A cell lysate of HEK293T cells overexpressing Serpin B8 served as positive control. Successful HIV-1 infection was validated via detection of HIV-1 capsid/p24; GAPDH served as loading control. (B) Principle of the furin activity assay: 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC)-based substrates harboring a minimal furin cleavage site (Arg-Thr-Lys-Arg) or the polybasic consensus cleavage site of HIV-1 Env (Arg-Arg-Val-Val-Glu-Arg-Glu-Lys-Arg) are converted into a fluorescent product by furin. (C, D) One nmol of reporter substrates harboring either (C) the minimal furin cleavage site or (D) the furin cleavage site of HIV-1 Env were coincubated with the indicated molar ratios of recombinant human furin and Serpin B8. Samples without substrate or without furin served as negative controls. Substrate conversion was monitored for 300 min as a reporter for furin activity. Representative experiments performed in technical triplicates (±SD) are shown on the left. The panels on the right show the mean areas under the curve (±SD) of three technical triplicates. ****, P < 0.0001; ***, P < 0.001; **, P < 0.01; *, P < 0.05.
FIG 2
FIG 2
Serpin B8 does not reduce infectivity of newly produced HIV-1 particles. (A) HEK239T cells were cotransfected with expression plasmids for HIV-1 Env and Serpin B8. Two days posttransfection, cells were lysed and cleavage of the HIV-1 Env precursor gp160 into mature gp120 was monitored by Western blotting. GAPDH served as a loading control. One representative blot is shown at the bottom. Env cleavage was calculated by quantifying the percentage of gp120 to total Env (i.e., gp160 + gp120). Mean values of three independent experiments (±SD) are shown on top. (B) HEK293T cells were cotransfected with an infectious molecular clone of HIV-1 NL4-3 and expression plasmids for Serpin B8 or GBP5. Two days posttransfection, cells and supernatants were harvested. Western blotting was used to validate the expression of Serpin B8 and GBP5. One representative blot is shown at the bottom. Infectious HIV-1 yield was determined by infecting TZM-GFP reporter cells. GFP-expressing (i.e., HIV-1 infected) reporter cells of one representative experiment are shown in the middle panel. Mean infectious virus yields of three to six independent experiments (±SD) are shown on top. (C) The amount of HIV-1 p24/capsid protein in the supernatants of the experiment described in (B) were determined by ELISA. Relative virion infectivity was calculated by normalizing total infectious yield to the amount of p24. Mean values of three independent experiments (±SD) are shown. (D) Cleavage of immature HIV-1 Env gp160 into gp120 was monitored by Western blotting of the supernatants obtained from the experiment described in (B). The percentage of gp120 to total Env was calculated. One representative Western blot is shown. ****, P < 0.0001; ***, P < 0.001; **, P < 0.01; *, P < 0.05.
FIG 3
FIG 3
Serpin B8 does not colocalize with furin. (A) The presence and absence of a signal peptide in furin (top panel) or Serpin B8 (bottom panel), respectively, was predicted using SignalP-6.0 (44). Amino acid positions are indicated on the x axis. The signal peptide and its corresponding cleavage site are shown on top. (B) To monitor the subcellular localization of Serpin B8 and furin, HEK293T cells were cotransfected with expression plasmids for furin and/or Serpin B8. Two days posttransfection, cells were permeabilized, stained and analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy (scale bar = 10 μm). A colocalization plot illustrating the signal intensities of furin and Serpin B8 for each pixel is shown at the bottom. (C) Primary monocyte-derived macrophages were stained for endogenous Serpin B8 (bottom) and analyzed via immunofluorescence microscopy (scale bar = 10 μm). An isotype control was used to determine unspecific background signals (top). (D) HEK293T cells were transfected with the indicated expression plasmids. Two days posttransfection, cells were lysed and analyzed by Western blotting. To detect Serpin B8, furin, and potential covalent heterodimers thereof, the membrane was probed with antibodies against Serpin B8 (top) and the AU1 tag of furin (middle). GAPDH served as loading control (bottom).
FIG 4
FIG 4
Rerouting of Serpin B8 to the secretory pathway renders it active against HIV-1. (A) Fusion of the signal peptide of murine PCSK5 to the N terminus of human Serpin B8. The presence of a signal peptide was predicted using SignalP-6.0 (44). (B) Immunofluorescence microscopy of HEK239T cells cotransfected with expression plasmids for furin and Serpin B8 harboring an N-terminal signal peptide (SP-Serpin B8). A colocalization plot is shown on the right. (C, D) To analyze the effect of SP-Serpin B8 on furin activity, supernatants of HEK293T cells cotransfected with expression plasmids for furin and increasing amounts of the indicated Serpin B8 variants were harvested 2 days posttransfection. The proteolytic activity in the culture supernatants was analyzed using the AMC reporter assay described in Fig. 1B. Mean values of three independent experiments (±SD) are shown. (E) HEK293T cells were cotransfected with an infectious molecular clone of HIV-1 NL4-3 and expression plasmids for the indicated Serpin B8 variants. Two days posttransfection, cells and supernatants were harvested. Western blotting was used to validate expression of Serpin B8. One representative blot is shown at the bottom. Two days posttransfection, infectious HIV-1 yield was determined by infecting TZM-GFP reporter cells. GFP-expressing (i.e., HIV-1 infected) reporter cells of one representative experiment are shown in the middle panel. Mean infectious virus yields of three to six independent experiments (±SD) are shown on top. (F) Relative virion infectivity was calculated by normalizing total infectious yield to the amount of p24 as determined by ELISA. Mean values of three independent experiments (±SD) are shown. (G) Western blotting was performed to determine Env levels in virions (top) and cell lysates (bottom) of the experiment described in panel E. GAPDH served as a loading control for cell lysates, while p24 was detected to monitor the amount of viral capsid protein in the supernatants. One representative blot is shown for virions and cells, respectively. ****, P < 0.0001; ***, P < 0.001; **, P < 0.01; *, P < 0.05.
FIG 5
FIG 5
Rerouted Serpin B8 reduces infectivity of pseudovirions carrying the glycoprotein of Marburg virus. (A, B) Lentiviral luciferase reporter viruses carrying the glycoprotein of Marburg virus were generated in the presence of increasing amounts of SP-Serpin B8. (A) Total infectious pseudovirus yield was determined by infecting HEK293T cells and subsequent quantification of luciferase activity. (B) Relative pseudovirion infectivity was determined by normalizing total infectivity to the amount of p24 as determined by ELISA. Mean values of three independent experiments (±SD) are shown. ****, P < 0.0001; ***, P < 0.001.

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