The barrier functions of crude cervical mucus plugs against HIV-1 infection in the context of cell-free and cell-to-cell transmission.
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Mhlekude B; University of Cape Town, Department of Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, South Africa.; TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research; a joint venture between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Institute of Experimental Virology, Hannover.; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Virology, Charité Campus Mitte.; Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.; Lenman A; TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research; a joint venture between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Institute of Experimental Virology, Hannover.; Sidoyi P; Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa.; Joseph J; Department of Human Biology, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa.; Kruppa J; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institut für Biometrie und Klinische Epidemiologie, Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.; Businge CB; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Walter Sisulu University/Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.; Mdaka ML; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Walter Sisulu University/Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.; Konietschke F; Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institut für Biometrie und Klinische Epidemiologie, Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.; Pich A; Hannover Medical School, Institute of Toxicology, Core Facility Proteomics, Hannover.; Gerold G; TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research; a joint venture between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Institute of Experimental Virology, Hannover.; Umeå University, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Virology & Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM), Umeå, Sweden.; Department of Biochemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany.; Goffinet C; TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research; a joint venture between the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Institute of Experimental Virology, Hannover.; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Virology, Charité Campus Mitte.; Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.; Mall AS; University of Cape Town, Department of Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, South Africa.
- Source
- Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8710219 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1473-5571 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02699370 NLM ISO Abbreviation: AIDS Subsets: MEDLINE
- Subject
- Language
- English
Objective: The cervical mucus plugs are enriched with proteins of known immunological functions. We aimed to characterize the anti-HIV-1 activity of the cervical mucus plugs against a panel of different HIV-1 strains in the contexts of cell-free and cell-associated virus.
Design: A cohort of consenting HIV-1-negative and HIV-1-positive pregnant women in labour was recruited from Mthatha General Hospital in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, from whom the cervical mucus plugs were collected in 6 M guanidinium chloride with protease inhibitors and transported to our laboratories at -80 °C.
Methods: Samples were centrifuged to remove insoluble material and dialysed before freeze--drying and subjecting them to the cell viability assays. The antiviral activities of the samples were studied using luminometric reporter assays and flow cytometry. Time-of-addition and BlaM-Vpr virus-cell fusion assays were used to pin-point the antiviral mechanisms of the cervical mucus plugs, before proteomic profiling using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Results: The proteinaceous fraction of the cervical mucus plugs exhibited anti-HIV-1 activity with inter-individual variations and some degree of specificity among different HIV-1 strains. Cell-associated HIV-1 was less susceptible to inhibition by the potent samples whenever compared with the cell-free HIV-1. The samples with high antiviral potency exhibited a distinct proteomic profile when compared with the less potent samples.
Conclusion: The crude cervical mucus plugs exhibit anti-HIV-1 activity, which is defined by a specific proteomic profile.
(Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)