The Splice of Life: Does RNA Processing Have a Role in HIV-1 Persistence?

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 13; no. 9; p. 1751
• Main Authors: Pasternak, Alexander O, Berkhout, Ben
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.09.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Anti-Retroviral Agents - therapeutic use; Antiretroviral therapy; Apoptosis; Biomarkers; Disease Reservoirs - virology; Gene expression; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - genetics; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - genetics; HIV-1 latency; HIV-1 persistence; HIV-1 reservoir; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immunology; Infections; Latency; Persistent Infection - genetics; Post-transcription; Protein expression; Proteins; Review; RNA processing; RNA Splicing - genetics; splicing; Virus Latency - genetics; Virus Replication; United States > US; HIV-1 latency; HIV-1 persistence; HIV-1 reservoir; splicing; RNA processing
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13091751

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses HIV-1 replication but does not eradicate the virus. Persistence of HIV-1 latent reservoirs in ART-treated individuals is considered the main obstacle to achieving an HIV-1 cure. However, these HIV-1 reservoirs are not transcriptionally silent, and viral transcripts can be detected in most ART-treated individuals. HIV-1 latency is regulated at the transcriptional and at multiple post-transcriptional levels. Here, we review recent insights into the possible contribution of viral RNA processing to the persistence of HIV-1 reservoirs, and discuss the clinical implications of persistence of viral RNA species in ART-treated individuals.