Cellular RNA-binding proteins are specifically incorporated into HIV particles

Cellular RNA-binding proteins play important roles promoting or supressing the initial steps of HIV infection in a newly infected cell. Since these early processes of infection occur inside the HIV capsid, we developed a method to identify comprehensively and systematically the proteins that interact with the viral genome inside viral particles, called in virion RNA interactome capture. Applied to HIV particles purified from the supernatant of infected CD4 T lymphocytes, we discover over hundred cellular proteins that are selectively packaged with the genomic RNA into virions. Using state-of-the-art molecular biology approaches we showed that these proteins can regulate the initial steps of HIV-1 infection. For example, the presence or absence of PURA in the viral particles defines the efficiency by which these will infect a new cell. The story was led by Manuel Garcia-Moreno, former postdoctoral researcher in the lab, with the contributions of other Castello lab members and our external collaborators.

This study has recently been deposited in BioRxiv.

The workflow of in virion RNA interactome capture