Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) currently infects 36.9 million people today and there is an active search for better treatment options especially in patients where HIV re-occurs. HIV is a single stranded retrovirus that affects human CD4+ T-cells. When a person becomes infected with HIV, the HIV genome becomes incorporated into the DNA of the host as a provirus. This provirus can either be active or latent. In cells infected with active virus, viral mRNA is being actively expressed and infectious HIV particles continuously bud out of the cell. In latent cells, the provirus is silent and minimal viral mRNA is being produced. The commonly prescribed therapy for AIDS patients is highly active retroviral therapy (HAART) that eliminates cells with active virus. This therapy does not cure patients because it does not eliminate HIV from the body. Hence, it is difficult to treat latent HIV. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate the use of retinoic acid in activating HIV from latency to create suitable active cell targets for HAART. Our research has shown that retinoic acid can reverse latency and is able to induce transcription of the promoter for the HIV provirus. Retinoic acid can induce HIV transcription through inhibition of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) leading to the subsequent hypomethylation of arginine histones which leads to transcriptional activation.

Retinoic acid reactivates HIV through epigenetic demethylation of histone arginine and CpG island cytosine

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.