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Cyclophilin A retrotransposition into TRIM5 explains owl monkey resistance to HIV-1

Nature volume 430, pages 569–573 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

In Old World primates, TRIM5-α confers a potent block to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection that acts after virus entry into cells1,2,3,4,5. Cyclophilin A (CypA) binding to viral capsid protects HIV-1 from a similar activity in human cells4,6,7,8. Among New World primates, only owl monkeys exhibit post-entry restriction of HIV-1 (ref. 1). Paradoxically, the barrier to HIV-1 in owl monkey cells is released by capsid mutants or drugs that disrupt capsid interaction with CypA4. Here we show that knockdown of owl monkey CypA by RNA interference (RNAi) correlates with suppression of anti-HIV-1 activity. However, reintroduction of CypA protein to RNAi-treated cells did not restore antiviral activity. A search for additional RNAi targets unearthed TRIMCyp, an RNAi-responsive messenger RNA encoding a TRIM5–CypA fusion protein. TRIMCyp accounts for post-entry restriction of HIV-1 in owl monkeys and blocks HIV-1 infection when transferred to otherwise infectable human or rat cells. It seems that TRIMCyp arose after the divergence of New and Old World primates when a LINE-1 retrotransposon catalysed the insertion of a CypA complementary DNA into the TRIM5 locus. This is the first vertebrate example of a chimaeric gene generated by this mechanism of exon shuffling.

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Figure 1: A CypA homologue is required for owl monkey restriction of HIV-1.
Figure 2: Owl monkey cells express a TRIM5–CypA fusion protein that blocks HIV-1 infection.
Figure 3: HIV-1 is restricted in human or rat cells transduced with TRIMCyp.
Figure 4: TRIMCyp arose from retrotransposition of CypA cDNA into TRIM5.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Bieniasz, S. Goff, M. Nicolelis, E. Phelps, S. Ribeiro, G. Towers and S. Valente for reagents. This work was supported by the NIH (J.L.), the Medical Scientist Training Program (D.M.S.), and AmFAR (L.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, 701 West 168th Street, HHSC 1502, New York, New York, 10032, USA

    David M. Sayah, Elena Sokolskaja, Lionel Berthoux & Jeremy Luban

  2. Department of Medicine, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, 701 West 168th Street, HHSC 1502, New York, New York, 10032, USA

    Jeremy Luban

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Correspondence to Jeremy Luban.

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Sayah, D., Sokolskaja, E., Berthoux, L. et al. Cyclophilin A retrotransposition into TRIM5 explains owl monkey resistance to HIV-1. Nature 430, 569–573 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02777

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