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The type I interferon (IFN) response is one of the primary defense systems against various pathogens. Although rubella virus (RuV) infection is known to cause dysfunction of various organs and systems, including the central nervous system, little is known about how human neural cells evoke protective immunity against RuV infection, leading to controlling RuV replication. Using cultured human neural cells experimentally infected with RuV RA27/3 strain, we characterized the type I IFN immune response against the virus. RuV infected cultured human neural cell lines and induced IFN-β production, leading to the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and the increased expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Melanoma-differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5), one of the cytoplasmic retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors, is required for the RuV-triggered IFN-β mRNA induction in U373MG cells. We also showed that upregulation of RuV-triggered ISGs was attenuated by blocking IFN-α/β receptor subunit 2 (IFNAR2) using an IFNAR2-specific neutralizing antibody or by repressing mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) expression using MAVS-targeting short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Furthermore, treating RuV-infected cells with BX-795, a TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1)/I kappa B kinase ε (IKKε) inhibitor, robustly reduced STAT1 phosphorylation and expression of ISGs, enhancing viral gene expression and infectious virion production. Overall, our findings suggest that the RuV-triggered type I IFN-mediated antiviral response is essential in controlling RuV gene expression and viral replication in human neural cells.

About the relationship between retroviral genome packaging and translation, three possible modes (random-, trans-, and cis-) of packaging process could be assumed. In this report, we developed an assay system based on the RT-qPCR to measure the packaging efficiency of primate lentiviruses. With this system, we analyzed the genome packaging modes of primate lentiviruses such as HIV-1, 2, SIVmac and SIVagm. The data suggested that the modes of all viruses analyzed were very similar. In addition, we observed that the Gag-AUG sequences of them played important roles for maintaining efficient packaging, other than the initiation of translation.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) uptakes homo-dimerized viral RNA genome into its own particle. A cis-acting viral RNA segment responsible for this event, termed packaging signal (psi), is located at the 5′-end of the viral genome. Although the psi segment exhibits nucleotide variation in nature, its effects on the psi function largely remain unknown. Here we show that a psi sequence from an HIV-1 regional variant, subtype D, has a lower packaging ability compared with that from another regional variant, HIV-1 subtype B, despite maintaining similar genome dimerization activities. A series of molecular genetic investigations narrowed down the responsible element of the selective attenuation to the two sequential nucleotides at positions 226 and 227 in the psi segment. Molecular dynamics simulations predicted that the dinucleotide substitution alters structural dynamics, fold, and hydrogen-bond networks primarily of the psi-SL2 element that contains the binding interface of viral nucleocapsid protein for the genome packaging. In contrast, such structural changes were minimal within the SL1 element involved in genome dimerization. These results suggest that the psi 226/227 dinucleotide pair functions as a cis-acting regulator to control the psi structure to selectively tune the efficiency of packaging, but not dimerization of highly variable HIV-1 genomes.

Background The dimer initiation site/dimer linkage sequence (DIS/DLS) region of HIV is located on the 5′ end of the viral genome and suggested to form complex secondary/tertiary structures. Within this structure, stem-loop 1 (SL1) is believed to be most important and an essential key to dimerization, since the sequence and predicted secondary structure of SL1 are highly stable and conserved among various virus subtypes. In particular, a six-base palindromic sequence is always present at the hairpin loop of SL1 and the formation of kissing-loop structure at this position between the two strands of genomic RNA is suggested to trigger dimerization. Although the higher-order structure model of SL1 is well accepted and perhaps even undoubted lately, there could be stillroom for consideration to depict the functional SL1 structure while in vivo (in virion or cell). Results In this study, we performed several analyses to identify the nucleotides and/or basepairing within SL1 which are necessary for HIV-1 genome dimerization, encapsidation, recombination and infectivity. We unexpectedly found that some nucleotides that are believed to contribute the formation of the stem do not impact dimerization or infectivity. On the other hand, we found that one G–C basepair involved in stem formation may serve as an alternative dimer interactive site. We also report on our further investigation of the roles of the palindromic sequences on viral replication. Collectively, we aim to assemble a more-comprehensive functional map of SL1 on the HIV-1 viral life cycle. Conclusion We discovered several possibilities for a novel structure of SL1 in HIV-1 DLS. The newly proposed structure model suggested that the hairpin loop of SL1 appeared larger, and genome dimerization process might consist of more complicated mechanism than previously understood. Further investigations would be still required to fully understand the genome packaging and dimerization of HIV. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12977-016-0310-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The dimer initiation site/dimer linkage sequence (DIS/DLS) region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA genome is suggested to play essential roles at various stages of the viral life cycle. Through a novel assay we had recently developed, we reported on the necessary and sufficient region for RNA dimerization in the HIV-1 virion. Using this system, we performed further detailed mapping of the functional base pairs necessary for HIV-1 DLS structure. Interestingly, the study revealed a previously unnoticed stem formation between two distantly positioned regions. Based on this and other findings on functional base pairing in vivo, we propose new 3D models of the HIV-1 DLS which contain a unique pseudoknot-like conformation. Since this pseudoknot-like conformation appears to be thermodynamically stable, forms a foundational skeleton for the DLS and sterically restricts the spontaneous diversification of DLS conformations, its unique shape may contribute to the viral life cycle and potentially serve as a novel target for anti-HIV-1 therapies.

The relationship between virion protein maturation and genomic RNA dimerization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) remains incompletely understood. We have constructed HIV-1 Gag cleavage site mutants to enable the steady state observation of virion maturation steps, and precisely study Gag processing, RNA dimerization, virion morphology and infectivity. Within the virion maturation process, the RNA dimer stabilization begins during the primary cleavage (p2-NC) of Pr55 Gag. However, the primary cleavage alone is not sufficient, and the ensuing cleavages are required for the completion of dimerization. From our observations, the increase of cleavage products may not put a threshold on the transition from fragile to stable dimeric RNA. Most of the RNA dimerization process did not require viral core formation, and particle morphology dynamics during viral maturation did not completely synchronize with the transition of dimeric RNA status. Although the endogenous virion RT activity was fully acquired at the initial step of maturation, the following process was necessary for viral DNA production in infected cell, suggesting the maturation of viral RNA/protein plays critical role for viral infectivity other than RT process.

Biomarkers are commonly used for verification of infection in conjunction with the development of viral vectors or experiments involving virus infection. Leukocyte surface antigens (CDs) are a prime option for biomarkers since they can be easily visualized and analyzed by flow cytometry after indirect fluorescent staining. For analyses of human cells, murine CD24 (Heat Stable Antigen: HSA) and CD90.2 (Thy-1.2) are currently being used. In the study reported here, we attempted to develop a rapid system for measuring retroviral genome recombination efficiency. For this purpose, we looked for an alternative CD molecule which could be used as a marker on a viral vector concurrently with other markers. We found that murine CD52 is suitable for this purpose because of its small gene size, low inhibitory effect on virus production, and measurable level of surface expression. With this novel biomarker, we succeeded in developing a rapid viral recombination measuring system using a flow cytometer.

Reverse transcription (RT) is one of the hallmark features of retroviruses. During RT, virus-encoded reverse transcriptase (RTase) must transfer from one end to the other end of the viral genome on two separate occasions to complete RT and move on to the production of proviral DNA. In addition, multiple strand-transfer events between homologous regions of the dimerized viral genome by RTase are also observed, and such recombination events serve as one of the driving forces behind human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genome sequence diversity. Although retroviral recombination is widely considered to be important, several features of its mechanism are still unclear. We constructed an HIV-1 vector system to examine the target sequences required for virus recombination, and elucidated other necessary prerequisites to harbour recombination, such as the length, homology and the stability of neighbouring structures around the target sequences.

In cells, the expression of Gag protein, one of the major structural proteins of retroviruses, is sufficient for budding virus-like particles (VLPs) from the cell surface. We have previously reported that spheroplasts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing HIV-1 Gag proteins from an episomal plasmid constitutively released a large amount of VLPs into culture media; however, commercially available ELISA kits which detect mature capsid of HIV-1 could not detect uncleaved 55-kDa Gag proteins released from budding yeast. We therefore developed a method to quantitate VLP levels released from budding yeast by using fusion protein from HIV-1 Gag and Firefly Luciferase. This system is useful for screening cellular factor(s) involved in retrovirus budding from S. cerevisiae.

We have previously shown that long terminal repeats (LTRs) derived from various isolates of SIVAGM share a unique functional property. In the absence of viral Tat, all SIVAGM LTRs act as much more efficient promoters than any of the other LTRs derived from representative primate immunodeficiency viruses. In the presence of Tat, however, SIVAGM LTRs are activated relatively inefficiently. To map the elements that confer these features on the SIVAGM LTR, a number of deletion mutants were constructed, and their promoter activities were determined using a bacterial CAT gene as a marker. The results obtained indicated that various elements located in the U3 region may contribute to the high basal promoter activity and that no negative elements are present in the region. The Tat-responsive sequence TAR was localized to the R region as observed for the other LTRs. A mutant carrying a single nucleotide deletion in this region completely lost responsiveness to Tat protein.

Primate immunodeficiency viruses carry a unique set of transacting regulator genes, which are essential for viral replication. The exchangeability of these Tat and Rev transactivators derived from viruses of the four major subgroups identified to date was assessed in transient transfection and infection assay systems. The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), a major causative virus of human AIDS, efficiently activated the other viruses. In contrast, the tat and rev gene products of HIV-2, SIVAGM (virus of the African green monkey), and SIVMND (virus of the mandrill) did not fully transactivate the HIV-1. In particular, the rev of HIV-1 was not substantially replaced by those of the other viruses. The result that HIV-1 is distinct from the other immunodeficiency viruses with respect to the compatibility of two transactivators gives a firm functional basis for the unique phylogenetic position of HIV-1.

A mutant of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 which carries a frameshift insertion in the integrase/endonuclease region of pol gene was constructed in vitro. Upon transfection into cells, although this mutant exhibited a normal phenotype with respect to expression of gag, pol, and env genes and to generation of progeny virions, no replication-competent virus in CD4-positive cells emerged. An assay for the single-step replication of a defective viral genome dependent on trans complementation by rev protein was established and used to monitor the early phase of viral infection process. Viral clones with a mutation in the vif, vpr, or vpu gene displayed no abnormality in the early phase. In contrast, the integrase mutant did not direct a marker gene expression after infection. Together with an observation that the mutant lacked the ability to integrate, these results indicated that the integration was required for efficient viral gene expression and productive infection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

We determined the susceptibility of monocytic cell lines to infection with viral strains derived from two infectious clones of simian immunodeficiency virus isolated from a mandrill. One of the strains, which replicates poorly in T cell lines, was found to grow more rapidly than the other in these cells. The viral determinant for this property was genetically mapped within the env gene encoding a surface protein. Six amino acid substitutions identified appeared to be located outside of the domains corresponding to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 env functional domains such as the CD4-binding and V3 loop regions.

In reporter-based transient expression systems, we characterized simian immunodeficiency virus from a chimpanzee (SIVCPZ), with special reference to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). SIVCPZ was not equally activated by tat and rev transactivators derived from representative primate lentiviruses. HIV-1 alone activated SIVCPZ to the full extent in both tat and rev assays. The tat and rev gene products of SIVCPZ, as well as those of HIV-1, efficiently transactivated the other viruses. These results indicate that SIVCPZ is identical to HIV-1 with regard to the compatibility of tat and rev gene activities among four subgroups of primate lentiviruses.

We constructed an infectious molecular clone of simian immunodeficiency virus from an African mandrill (SIVMND). Upon transfection, this clone directed the production of progeny virus particles infectious to and cytopathic for CD4+ human leukemia cells. Thirteen frameshift proviral mutants with an alteration in the eight open reading frames of SIVMND were generated by recombinant DNA techniques, and were analyzed biologically and biochemically. While mutations in the structural genes gag, pol, and env abolished viral growth and induction of cytopathology, mutants of the vif, vpr, and nef genes were fully biologically active. Of the tat and rev mutants, only one rev mutant grew in CD4+ cells with delayed kinetics. In reporter-based transient expression systems, transactivation potentials of the tat and rev mutants were evaluated. A mutant lacking 2nd coding exon of tat gene exhibited tat activity similar to that of the wild type clone. The infectious rev mutant was partially defective for rev gene activity.

It has been suggested that the dimer initiation site/dimer linkage sequence (DIS/DLS) region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA genome plays an important role at various stages of the viral life cycle. Recently we found that the duplication of the DIS/DLS region on viral RNA caused the production of partially monomeric RNAs in virions, indicating that this region indeed mediates RNA-RNA interaction. In this report, we followed up on this finding to identify the necessary and sufficient region for RNA dimerization in the virion of HIV-1. The region thus identified was 144 bases in length, extending from the junction of R/U5 and U5/L stem-loops to the end of SL4. The trans -acting responsive element, polyadenylation signal, primer binding site, upper stem-loop of U5/L, and SL2 were not needed for the function of this region. The insertion of this region into the ectopic location of the viral genome did not affect the level of virion production by transfection. However, the resultant virions contained monomerized genomes and showed drastic reductions in infectivity. A reduction was observed especially in the reverse transcription process. An attempt to generate a replication-competent virus with monomerized genome was performed by the long-term culture of mutant virus-infected cells. All recovered viruses were wild-type revertants, indicating a fatal defect of the mutation. These results suggest that genome dimerization or DIS/DLS itself also plays an important role in the early stages of virus infection.

Expression of retroviral Gag protein in yeast has previously shown Gag targeting to the plasma membrane but little or no production of Gag virus-like particles (VLPs). Here we show that, after removal of the cell wall, the expression of HIV type 1 Gag protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae spheroplasts allowed simultaneous budding of VLPs from the plasma membrane. Our data show that ( i ) the VLPs released from yeast spheroplasts were spherical and had morphological features, such as membrane apposed electron-dense layers, characteristic of the immature form of HIV particles; ( ii ) the VLPs were completely enclosed in the plasma membrane derived from yeast, which is denser than that of higher eukaryotic cells; ( iii ) the VLP Gag shells remained intact after treatment of nonionic detergent; and ( iv ) the VLPs were released soon after removal of the cell wall and accumulated up to 300 μg/liter of culture. Our results also show that VLP production was abolished by amino acid substitution of the Gag N-terminal myristoylglycine and impaired when Gag C-terminal deletions were extended beyond the nucleocapsid domain. These results were consistent with those obtained previously in higher eukaryotic expression systems, suggesting that similar Gag domains were used for VLP assembly. We suggest that the system described here offers significant advantages for studying host factors required for VLP budding. The system also may be available for production of vector virus-free VLPs for practical applications such as vaccine development.

Function of Hsp70s such as DnaK of the Escherichia coli cytoplasm and Ssc1 of the mitochondrial matrix of Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the nucleotide release factors, GrpE and Mge1, respectively. A loop, which protrudes from domain IA of the DnaK ATPase domain, is one of six sites of interaction revealed in the GrpE:DnaK co-crystal structure and has been implicated as a functionally important site in both DnaK and Ssc1. Alanine substitutions for the amino acids (Lys-108 and Arg-213 of Mge1) predicted to interact with the Hsp70 loop were analyzed. Mge1 having both substitutions was able to support growth in the absence of the essential wild-type protein. K108A/R213A Mge1 was able to stimulate nucleotide release from Ssc1 and function in refolding of denatured luciferase, albeit higher concentrations of mutant protein than wild-type protein were required. In vitro and in vivo assays using K108A/R213A Mge1 and Ssc1 indicated that the disruption of contact at this site destabilized the interaction between the two proteins. We propose that the direct interaction between the loop of Ssc1 and Mge1 is not required to effect nucleotide release but plays a role in stabilization of the Mge1-Ssc1 interaction. The robust growth of the K108A/R213A MGE1 mutant suggests that the interaction between Mge1 and Ssc1 is tighter than required for function in vivo.

While simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) derived from an infectious molecular clone pMA239 is tropic and pathogenic for monkeys, the virus derived from another infectious clone pMA142 does not replicate in monkey cells. To determine genetic sequences responsible for this tropism, a series of recombinant clones were constructed from pMA142 and pMA239. The determinant in pMA239 was mapped within regions encompassing the env gene. Viruses, which carry the 239 env gene encoding surface and/or transmembrane proteins, were tropic for monkey cells.

A highly sensitive single-round infection assay using a bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase was developed to analyze an early stage of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication. By a combination of transfection and single-round infection assay, a virus with a vif mutation, depending on host cells from which the virus was derived, was demonstrated to be defective at the early phase of infection cycle. Analysis of viral proteins synthesized in cells indicated that incorporation of the Env surface protein into virions of the vif mutant, again in a cell-dependent way, was greatly restricted. Taken together, it is concluded that the Vif protein acts through modulation of the Env protein in the virions, directly or indirectly, to enhance viral infectivity in a certain cell type.

Two macaque monkeys were inoculated with a chimeric human and simian immunodeficiency virus carrying the tat, rev, vpu and env genes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Infectious virus was recovered from one of the monkeys at 2 and 6 weeks post-infection. The hybrid nature of the isolated viruses was verified by Southern and Western blotting analyses. Both of the monkeys infected with the chimera elicited a humoral antibody response against the virus.

We examined the biological properties of two infectious clones of a simian immunodeficiency virus, SIVMND, which were designated as pMD121 and pMD122. Upon transfection into CD4-negative cells, pMD122 generated virions much less efficiently than pMD121. Likewise, the growth kinetics in CD4-positive cells of virus derived from pMD122 were remarkably delayed relative to those of virus from pMD121. The cytocidal activity of the MD122 virus was also low. A series of recombinant clones were constructed from pMD121 and pMD122 to determine the sequence responsible for the low virulence of the MD122 virus. The genetic determinant in pMD122 responsible for its properties was mapped to within a region (316 base pairs) encompassing the tat, rev, and env coding sequences. Sequence analysis revealed that the two clones differed by only one nucleotide in this region. A nucleotide substitution G (pMD121) to T (pMD122) altered an arginine codon to a serine codon in the first tat coding exon. Transient transfection experiments showed that the tat activity of pMD122 was about twofold less than that of pMD121. These findings indicate that small differences in tat activity can have a dramatic effect on the biological behavior of SIVMND.

Table of contents Oral presentations Session 1: Entry & uncoating O1 Host cell polo-like kinases (PLKs) promote early prototype foamy virus (PFV) replication Irena Zurnic, Sylvia Hütter, Ute Lehmann, Nicole Stanke, Juliane Reh, Tobias Kern, Fabian Lindel, Gesche Gerresheim, Martin Hamann, Erik Müllers, Paul Lesbats, Peter Cherepanov, Erik Serrao, Alan Engelman, Dirk Lindemann O2 A novel entry/uncoating assay reveals the presence of at least two species of viral capsids during synchronized HIV-1 infection Claire Da Silva Santos, Kevin Tartour, Andrea Cimarelli O3 Dynamics of nuclear envelope association and nuclear import of HIV-1 complexes Rya Burdick, Jianbo Chen, Jaya Sastri, Wei-Shau Hu, Vinay Pathak O4 Human papillomavirus protein E4 potently enhances the susceptibility to HIV infection Oliver T. Keppler Session 2: Reverse transcription & integration O5 Structure and function of HIV-1 integrase post translational modifications Karine Pradeau, Sylvia Eiler, Nicolas Levy, Sarah Lennon, Sarah Cianferani, Stéphane Emiliani, Marc Ruff O6 Regulation of retroviral integration by RNA polymerase II associated factors and chromatin structure Vincent Parissi Session 3: Transcription and latency O7 A novel single-cell analysis pipeline to identify specific biomarkers of HIV permissiveness Sylvie Rato, Antonio Rausell, Miguel Munoz, Amalio Telenti, Angela Ciuffi O8 A capsid-dependent integration program linking T cell activation to HIV-1 gene expression Alexander Zhyvoloup, Anat Melamed, Ian Anderson, Delphine Planas, Janos Kriston-Vizi, Robin Ketteler, Chen-Hsuin Lee, Andy Merritt, Petronela Ancuta, Charles Bangham, Ariberto Fassati O9 Characterisation of new RNA polymerase III and RNA polymerase II transcriptional promoters in the Bovine Leukemia Virus genome Anthony Rodari, Benoit Van Driessche, Mathilde Galais, Nadége Delacourt, Sylvain Fauquenoy, Caroline Vanhulle, Anna Kula, Arsène Burny, Olivier Rohr, Carine Van Lint O10 Tissue-specific dendritic cells differentially modulate latent HIV-1 reservoirs Thijs van Montfort, Renee van der Sluis, Dave Speijer, Ben Berkhout Session 4: RNA trafficking & packaging O11 A novel cis-acting element affecting HIV replication Bo Meng, Andrzej Rutkowski, Neil Berry, Lars Dölken, Andrew Lever O12 Tolerance of HIV’s late gene expression towards stepwise codon adaptation Thomas Schuster, Benedikt Asbach, Ralf Wagner Session 5: Assembly & release O13 Importance of the tax-inducible actin-bundling protein fascin for transmission of human T cell leukemia virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) Christine Gross, Veit Wiesmann, Martina Kalmer, Thomas Wittenberg, Jan Gettemans, Andrea K. Thoma-Kress O14 Lentiviral nef proteins antagonize TIM-mediated inhibition of viral release Minghua Li, Eric O. Freed, Shan-Lu Liu Session 6: Pathogenesis & evolution O15 SEVI and semen prolong the half-life of HIV-1 Janis Müller, Jan Münch O16 CD169+ macrophages mediate retrovirus trans-infection of permissive lymphocytes to establish infection in vivo Xaver Sewald, Pradeep Uchil, Mark Ladinsky, Jagadish Beloor, Ruoxi Pi, Christin Herrmann, Nasim Motamedi, Thomas Murooka, Michael Brehm, Dale Greiner, Thorsten Mempel, Pamela Bjorkman, Priti Kumar, Walther Mothes O17 Efficient replication of a vpu containing SIVagm construct in African Green Monkeys requires an HIV-1 nef gene Simone Joas, Erica Parrish, Clement Wesley Gnanadurai, Edina Lump, Christina M. Stürzel, Nicholas F. Parrish, Ulrike Sauermann, Katharina Töpfer, Tina Schultheiss, Steven Bosinger, Guido Silvestri, Cristian Apetrei, Nicholas Huot, Michaela Müller-Trutwin, Daniel Sauter, Beatrice H. Hahn, Christiane Stahl-Hennig, Frank Kirchhoff O18 Reprogramming initiates mobilization of endogenous mutagenic LINE-1, Alu and SVA retrotransposons in human induced pluripotent stem cells with consequences for host gene expression Gerald Schumann, Sabine Jung-Klawitter, Nina V. Fuchs, Kyle R. Upton, Martin Muñoz-Lopez, Ruchi Shukla, Jichang Wang, Marta Garcia-Canadas, Cesar Lopez-Ruiz, Daniel J. Gerhardt, Attila Sebe, Ivana Grabundzija, Patricia Gerdes, Sylvia Merkert, Andres Pulgarin, Anja Bock, Ulrike Held, Anett Witthuhn, Alexandra Haase, Ernst J. Wolvetang, Ulrich Martin, Zoltán Ivics, Zsuzsanna Izsvák, J. Garcia-Perez, Geoffrey J. Faulkner O19 NF-κB activation induces expression of human endogenous retrovirus and particle production Tara Hurst, Aris Katzourakis, Gkikas Magiorkinis Session 7a and b: Innate sensing & intrinsic immunity O20 Identification of the phosphatase acting on T592 in SAMHD1 during M/G1 transition Kerstin Schott, Rita Derua, Janna Seifried, Andreas Reuter, Heike Schmitz, Christiane Tondera, Alberto Brandariz-Nuñez, Felipe Diaz-Griffero, Veerle Janssens, Renate König O21 Vpx overcomes a SAMHD1-independent block to HIV reverse transcription that is specific to resting CD4 T cells Hanna-Mari Baldauf, Lena Stegmann, Sarah-Marie Schwarz, Maud Trotard, Margarethe Martin, Gina Lenzi, Manja Burggraf, Xiaoyu Pan, Oliver I. Fregoso, Efrem S. Lim, Libin Abraham, Elina Erikson, Laura Nguyen, Ina Ambiel, Frank Rutsch, Renate König, Baek Kim, Michael Emerman, Oliver T. Fackler, Oliver T. Keppler O22 The role of SAMHD1 in antiviral restriction and immune sensing in the mouse Sabine Wittmann, Rayk Behrendt, Bianca Volkmann, Kristin Eissmann, Thomas Gramberg O23 T cells expressing reduced restriction factors are preferentially infected in therapy naïve HIV-1 patients Sebastian Bolduan, Herwig Koppensteiner, Stefanie Regensburg, Ruth Brack-Werner, Rika Draenert, Michael Schindler O24 cGAS-mediated innate immunity spreads through HIV-1 env-induced membrane fusion sites from infected to uninfected primary HIV-1 target cells Aurélie Ducroux, Shuting Xu, Aparna Ponnurangam, Sergej Franz, Angelina Malassa, Ellen Ewald, Christine Goffinet O25 Perturbation of innate RNA and DNA sensing by human T cell leukemia virus type 1 oncoproteins Sin-Yee Fung, Ching-Ping Chan, Chun-Kit Yuen, Kin-Hang Kok, Chin-Ping Chan, Dong-Yan Jin O26 Induction and anti-viral activity of Interferon α subtypes in HIV-1 infection Ulf Dittmer O27 Vpu-mediated counteraction of tetherin is a major determinant of HIV-1 interferon resistance Dorota Kmiec, Shilpa Iyer, Christina Stürzel, Daniel Sauter, Beatrice Hahn, Frank Kirchhoff O28 DNA repair protein Rad18 restricts HIV-1 and LINE-1 life cycle Yasuo Ariumi, Mariko Yasuda-Inoue, Koudai Kawano, Satoshi Tateishi, Priscilla Turelli O29 Natural mutations in IFITM3 allow escape from post-translational regulation and toggle antiviral specificity Alex Compton, Nicolas Roy, Françoise Porrot, Anne Billet, Nicoletta Casartelli, Jacob Yount, Chen Liang, Oliver Schwartz Session 8: Adaptive immunity & immune evasion O30 Observing evolution in HIV-1 infection: phylogenetics and mutant selection windows to infer the influence of the autologous antibody response on the viral quasispecies Carsten Magnus, Lucia Reh, Penny Moore, Therese Uhr, Jacqueline Weber, Lynn Morris, Alexandra Trkola O31 Dose and subtype specific analyses of the anti-HIV effects of IFN-alpha family members Rashel V. Grindberg, Erika Schlaepfer, Gideon Schreiber, Viviana Simon, Roberto F. Speck Session 9: Novel antiviral strategies O32 LEDGIN-mediated inhibition of the integrase-LEDGF/p75 interaction reduces reactivation of residual latent HIV Zeger Debyser, Lenard Vranckx, Jonas Demeulemeester, Suha Saleh, Eric Verdin, Anna Cereseto, Frauke Christ, Rik Gijsbers O33 NKG2D-mediated clearance of reactivated viral reservoirs by natural killer cells O34 Inhibition of HIV reactivation in brain cells by AAV-mediated delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 O35 CRISPR-Cas9 as antiviral: potent HIV-1 inhibition, but rapid virus escape and the subsequent design of escape-proof antiviral strategies Ben Berkhout, Gang Wang, Na Zhao, Atze T. Das Session 10: Recent advances in HIV vaccine development O36 Priming with a potent HIV-1 DNA vaccine frames the quality of T cell and antibody responses prior to a poxvirus and protein boost Benedikt Asbach, Josef Köstler, Beatriz Perdiguero, Mariano Esteban, Bertram L. Jacobs, David C. Montefiori, Celia C. LaBranche, Nicole L. Yates, Georgia D. Tomaras, Guido Ferrari, Kathryn E. Foulds, Mario Roederer, Gary Landucci, Donald N. Forthal, Michael S. Seaman, Natalie Hawkins, Steven G. Self, Sanjay Phogat, James Tartaglia, Susan W. Barnett, Brian Burke, Anthony D. Cristillo, Song Ding, Jonathan L. Heeney, Giuseppe Pantaleo, Ralf Wagner O37 Passive immunisation with a neutralising antibody against HIV-1 Env prevents infection of the first cells in a mucosal challenge rhesus monkey model Christiane Stahl-Hennig, Viktoria Stab, Armin Ensser, Ulrike Sauermann, Bettina Tippler, Dennis Burton, Matthias Tenbusch, Klaus Überla O38 HIV antibody Fc-glycoforms drive B cell affinity maturation Galit Alter, Giuseppe Lofano, Anne-Sophie Dugast, Viraj Kulkarni, Todd Suscovich Poster presentations Topic 1: Entry & uncoating P1 Dynein light chain is required for murine leukemia virus infection Tatiana Opazo, Felipe Barraza, Diego Herrera, Andrea Garces, Tomas Schwenke, Diego Tapia, Jorge Cancino, Gloria Arriagada P2 Peptide paratope mimics of the broadly neutralising HIV-1 antibody b12 Christina Haußner, Dominik Damm, Anette Rohrhofer, Barbara Schmidt, Jutta Eichler P3 Investigating cellular pathways involved in the transmission of HIV-1 between dendritic cells and T cells using RNAi screening techniques Rebecca Midgley, James Wheeldon, Vincent Piguet P4 Co-receptor tropism in HIV-1, HIV-2 monotypic and dual infections Priyanka Khopkar, Megha Rohamare, Smita Kulkarni P5 Characterisation of the role of CIB1 and CIB2 as HIV-1 helper factors Ana Godinho-Santos, Allan Hance, Joao Goncalves, Fabrizio Mammano P6 Buffering deleterious polymorphisms in the highly constrained C2 region of HIV-1 envelope by the flexible V3 domain Romain Gasser, Meriem Hamoudi, Martina Pellicciotta, Zhicheng Zhou, Clara Visdeloup, Philippe Colin, Martine Braibant, Bernard Lagane, Matteo Negroni P7 Entry inhibition of HERV-K(HML-2) by an Env-IgG fusion protein Jula Wamara, Norbert Bannert Topic 2: Reverse transcription & integration P8 The R263K/H51Y resistance substitutions in HIV integrase decreases levels of integrated HIV DNA over time Thibault Mesplede, Nathan Osman, Kaitlin Anstett, Jiaming Calvin Liang, Hanh Thi Pham, Mark Wainberg P9 The Retrovirus Integration Database (RID) Wei Shao, Jigui Shan, Mary Kearney, Xiaolin Wu, Frank Maldarelli, John Mellors, Brian Luke, John Coffin, Stephen Hughes P10 The small molecule 3G11 inhibits HIV-1 reverse transcription Thomas Fricke, Silvana Opp, Caitlin Shepard, Dmitri Ivanov, Baek Kim, Jose Valle-Casuso, Felipe Diaz-Griffero P11 Dual and opposite regulation of HIV-1 integration by hRAD51: impact on therapeutical approaches using homologous DNA repair modulators Vincent Parissi P12 A flexible motif essential for integration by HIV-1 integrase Marine Kanja, Pierre Cappy, Matteo Negroni, Daniela Lener P13 Interaction between HIV-1 integrase and the host protein Ku70: identification of the binding site and study of the influence on integrase-proteasome interplay Ekaterina Knyazhanskaya, Andrey Anisenko, Timofey Zatsepin, Marina Gottikh P14 Normalisation based method for deep sequencing of somatic retroelement integrations in human genome Alexander Komkov, Anastasia Minervina, Gaiaz Nugmanov, Vadim Nazarov, Konstantin Khodosevich, Ilgar Mamedov, Yuri Lebedev Topic 3: Transcription and latency P15 BCA2/RABRING7 restricts HIV-1 transcription by preventing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB Marta Colomer-Lluch, Ruth Serra-Moreno P16 MATR3 post-transcriptional regulation of HIV-1 transcription during latency Ambra Sarracino, Anna Kula, Lavina Gharu, Alexander Pasternak, Carine Van Lint, Alessandro Marcello P17 HIV-1 tat intersects the SUMO pathway to regulate HIV-1 promoter activity Ann Marie McCartin, Anurag Kulkarni, Valentin Le Douce, Virginie Gautier P18 Conservation in HIV-1 Vpr guides tertiary gRNA folding and alternative splicing Ann Baeyens, Evelien Naessens, Anouk Van Nuffel, Karin Weening, Anne-Marie Reilly, Eva Claeys, Wim Trypsteen, Linos Vandekerckhove, Sven Eyckerman, Kris Gevaert, Bruno Verhasselt P19 The majority of reactivatable latent HIV are genetically distinct Hoi Ping Mok, Nicholas Norton, Axel Fun, Jack Hirst, Mark Wills, Andrew Lever P20 Do mutations in the tat exonic splice enhancer contribute to HIV-1 latency? Nicholas Norton, Hoi Ping Mok, Jack Hirst, Andrew Lever P21 Culture-to-Ct: A fast and direct RT-qPCR HIV gene reactivation screening method using primary T cell culture Valentin Le Douce, Ann Marie McCartin, Virginie Gautier P22 A novel approach to define populations of early silenced proviruses Dalibor Miklik, Filip Senigl, Jiri Hejnar Topic 4: RNA trafficking & packaging P23 Functional analysis of the structure and conformation of HIV-1 genome RNA DIS Jun-ichi Sakuragi, Sayuri Sakuragi, Masaru Yokoyama, Tatsuo Shioda, Hironori Sato P24 Regulation of foamy viral env splicing controls gag and pol expression Jochen Bodem, Rebecca Moschall, Sarah Denk, Steffen Erkelenz, Christian Schenk, Heiner Schaal Topic 5: Assembly & release P25 Transfer of HTLV-1 p8 to target T cells depends on VASP: a novel interaction partner of p8 Norbert Donhauser, Ellen Socher, Sebastian Millen, Heinrich Sticht, Andrea K. Thoma-Kress P26 COL4A1 and COL4A2 are novel HTLV-1 tax targets with a putative role in virus transmission Christine Gross, Sebastian Millen, Melanie Mann, Klaus Überla, Andrea K. Thoma-Kress P27 The C terminus of foamy virus gag protein is required for particle formation, and virus budding: starting assembly at the C terminus? Guochao Wei, Matthew J. Betts, Yang Liu, Timo Kehl, Robert B. Russell, Martin Löchelt P28 Generation of an antigen-capture ELISA and analysis of Rec and Staufen-1 effects on HERV-K(HML-2) virus particle production Oliver Hohn, Saeed Mostafa, Kirsten Hanke, Stephen Norley, Norbert Bannert P29 Antagonism of BST-2/tetherin is a conserved function of primary HIV-2 Env glycoproteins Chia-Yen Chen, Masashi Shingai, Pedro Borrego, Nuno Taveira, Klaus Strebel P30 Mutations in the packaging signal region of the HIV-1 genome cause a late domain mutant phenotype Chris Hellmund, Bo Meng, Andrew Lever P31 p6 regulates membrane association of HIV-1 gag Melanie Friedrich, Friedrich Hahn, Christian Setz, Pia Rauch, Kirsten Fraedrich, Alina Matthaei, Petra Henklein, Maximilian Traxdorf, Torgils Fossen, Ulrich Schubert Topic 6: Pathogenesis & evolution P32 Molecular and structural basis of protein evolution during viral adaptation Aya Khwaja, Meytal Galilee, Akram Alian P33 HIV-1 enhancement and neutralisation by soluble gp120 and its role for the selection of the R5-tropic “best fit” Birco Schwalbe, Heiko Hauser, Michael Schreiber P34 An insertion of seven amino acids in the Env cytoplasmic tail of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 2 (HIV-2) selected during disease progression enhances viral replication François Dufrasne, Mara Lucchetti, Patrick Goubau, Jean Ruelle P35 Cell-associated HIV-1 unspliced to multiply spliced RNA ratio at 12 weeks ART correlates with markers of immune activation and apoptosis and predicts the CD4 T-cell count at 96 weeks ART Mirte Scherpenisse, Ben Berkhout, Alexander Pasternak P36 Faster progression in non-B subtype HIV-1-infected patients than Korean subclade of subtype B is accompanied by higher variation and no induction of gross deletion in non-B nef gene by Korean red ginseng treatment Young-Keol Cho, Jungeun Kim, Daeun Jeong P37 Aberrant expression of ERVWE1 endogenous retrovirus and overexpression of TET dioxygenases are characteristic features of seminoma Katerina Trejbalova, Martina Benesova, Dana Kucerova, Zdenka Vernerova, Rachel Amouroux, Petra Hajkova, Jiri Hejnar P38 Life history of the oldest lentivirus: characterisation of ELVgv integrations and the TRIM5 selection pattern in dermoptera Daniel Elleder, Tomas Hron, Helena Farkasova, Abinash Padhi, Jan Paces P39 Characterisation of a highly divergent endogenous retrovirus in the equine germ line Henan Zhu, Robert Gifford, Pablo Murcia P40 The emergence of pandemic retroviral infection in small ruminants Maria Luisa Carrozza, Anna-Maria Niewiadomska, Maurizio Mazzei, Mounir Abi-Said, Joseph Hughes, Stéphane Hué, Robert Gifford P41 Near full-length genome (NFLG) Characterisation of HIV-1 subtype B identified in South Africa Adetayo Obasa, Graeme Jacobs, Susan Engelbrecht P42 Acquisition of Vpu-mediated tetherin antagonism by an HIV-1 group O strain Katharina Mack, Kathrin Starz, Daniel Sauter, Matthias Geyer, Frederic Bibollet-Ruche, Christina Stürzel, Marie Leoz, Jean Christophe Plantier, Beatrice H. Hahn, Frank Kirchhoff P43 The human endogenous retrovirus type K is involved in cancer stem cell markers expression and in human melanoma malignancy Ayele Argaw-Denboba, Emanuela Balestrieri, Annalucia Serafino, Ilaria Bucci, Chiara Cipriani, Corrado Spadafora, Paolo Sinibaldi-Vallebona, Claudia Matteucci P44 Natural infection of Indian non-human primates by unique lentiviruses S. Nandi Jayashree, Ujjwal Neogi, Anil K. Chhangani, Shravan Sing Rathore, Bajrang R. J. Mathur P45 Free cervical cancer screening among HIV-positive women receiving antiretroviral treatment in Nigeria Adeyemi Abati P46 Molecular evolutionary status of feline immunodeficiency virus in Turkey B. Taylan Koç, Tuba Çiğdem Oğuzoğlu Topic 7: Innate sensing & intrinsic immunity P47 Cell-to-cell contact with HTLV-1-infected T cells reduces dendritic cell immune functions and contributes to infection in trans. Takatoshi Shimauchi, Stephan Caucheteux, Jocelyn Turpin, Katja Finsterbusch, Charles Bangham, Yoshiki Tokura, Vincent Piguet P48 Deciphering the mechanisms of HIV-1 exacerbation induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in monocytes/macrophages Shanti Souriant, Luciana Balboa, Karine Pingris, Denise Kviatcowsky, Brigitte Raynaud-Messina, Céline Cougoule, Ingrid Mercier, Marcelo Kuroda, Pablo González-Montaner, Sandra Inwentarz, Eduardo Jose Moraña, Maria del Carmen Sasiain, Olivier Neyrolles, Isabelle Maridonneau-Parini, Geanncarlo Lugo-Villarino, Christel Vérollet P49 The SAMHD1-mediated inhibition of LINE-1 retroelements is regulated by phosphorylation Alexandra Herrmann, Sabine Wittmann, Caitlin Shepard, Dominique Thomas, Nerea Ferreirós Bouzas, Baek Kim, Thomas Gramberg P50 Activities of nuclear envelope protein SUN2 in HIV infection Xavier Lahaye, Anvita Bhargava, Takeshi Satoh, Matteo Gentili, Silvia Cerboni, Aymeric Silvin, Cécile Conrad, Hakim Ahmed-Belkacem, Elisa C. Rodriguez, Jean-François Guichou, Nathalie Bosquet, Matthieu Piel, Roger Le Grand, Megan King, Jean-Michel Pawlotsky, Nicolas Manel P51 Activation of TLR7/8 with a small molecule agonist induces a novel restriction to HIV-1 infection of monocytes Henning Hofmann, Benedicte Vanwalscappel, Nicolin Bloch, Nathaniel Landau P52 Steady state between the DNA polymerase and Rnase H domain activities of reverse transcriptases determines the sensitivity of retroviruses to inhibition by APOBEC3 proteins Stanislav Indik, Benedikt Hagen P53 HIV restriction in mature dendritic cells is related to p21 induction and p21-mediated control of the dNTP pool and SAMHD1 activity. José Carlos Valle-Casuso, Awatef Allouch, Annie David, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Michaela Müller-Trutwin, Monsef Benkirane, Gianfranco Pancino, Asier Saez-Cirion P54 IFITM protens restrict HIV-1 protein synthesis Wing-Yiu Lee, Chen Liang, Richard Sloan P55 Characterisation and functional analysis of the novel restriction factor Serinc5 Bianca Schulte, Silvana Opp, Felipe Diaz-Griffero P56 piRNA sequences are common in Human Endogenous Retroviral Sequences (HERVs): An antiretroviral restriction mechanism? Jonas Blomberg, Luana Vargiu, Patricia Rodriguez-Tomé, Enzo Tramontano, Göran Sperber P57 Ferroportin restricts HIV-1 infection in sickle cell disease Namita Kumari, Tatiana Ammosova, Sharmeen Diaz, Patricia Oneal, Sergei Nekhai P58 APOBEC3G modulates the response to antiretroviral drugs in humanized mice Audrey Fahrny, Gustavo Gers-Huber, Annette Audigé, Roberto F. Speck, Anitha Jayaprakash, Ravi Sachidanandam, Matt Hernandez, Marsha Dillon-White, Viviana Simon P59 High-throughput epigenetic analysis of evolutionarily young endogenous retrovirus presents in the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) genome Tomas Hron, Helena Farkasova, Daniel Elleder P60 Characterisation of the expression of novel endogenous retroviruses and immune interactions in a macaque model Neil Berry, Emmanuel Maze, Claire Ham, Neil Almond, Greg Towers, Robert Belshaw P61 HIV-1 restriction by orthologs of SERINC3 and SERINC5 Patrícia de Sousa-Pereira, Joana Abrantes, Massimo Pizzato, Pedro J. Esteves, Oliver T. Fackler, Oliver T. Keppler, Hanna-Mari Baldauf P62 TRIM19/PML restricts HIV infection in a cell type-dependent manner Bianca Volkmann, Tanja Kahle, Kristin Eissmann, Alexandra Herrmann, Sven Schmitt, Sabine Wittmann, Laura Merkel, Nina Reuter, Thomas Stamminger, Thomas Gramberg P63 Recent invasion of the mule deer genome by a retrovirus Helena Farkasova, Tomas Hron, Daniel Elleder P64 Does the antiviral protein SAMHD1 influence mitochondrial function? Ilaria Dalla Rosa, Kate Bishop, Antonella Spinazzola, Harriet Groom P65 cGAMP transfers intercellularly via HIV-1 Env-mediated cell–cell fusion sites and triggers an innate immune response in primary target cells Shuting Xu, Aurélie Ducroux, Aparna Ponnurangam, Sergej Franz, Gabrielle Vieyres, Mathias Müsken, Thomas Zillinger, Angelina Malassa, Ellen Ewald, Veit Hornung, Winfried Barchet, Susanne Häussler, Thomas Pietschmann, Christine Goffinet P66 Pre-infection transcript levels of FAM26F in PBMCS inform about overall plasma viral load in acute and postacute phase after SIV-infection Ulrike Sauermann, Aneela Javed, Nicole Leuchte, Gabriela Salinas, Lennart Opitz, Christiane Stahl-Hennig, Sieghart Sopper P67 Sequence-function analysis of three T cell receptors targeting the HIV-1 p17 epitope SLYNTVATL Christiane Mummert, Christian Hofmann, Angela G. Hückelhoven, Silke Bergmann, Sandra M. Müller-Schmucker, Ellen G. Harrer, Jan Dörrie, Niels Schaft, Thomas Harrer P68 An immunodominant region of the envelope glycoprotein of small ruminant lentiviruses may function as decoy antigen Laure Cardinaux, M.-L. Zahno, H.-R. Vogt, R. Zanoni, G. Bertoni P69 Impact of immune activation, immune exhaustion, broadly neutralising antibodies and viral reservoirs on disease progression in HIV-infected children Maximilian Muenchhoff, Philip Goulder, Oliver Keppler Topic 9: Novel antiviral strategies P70 Identification of natural compounds as new antiviral products by bioassay-guided fractionation Alexandra Herrmann, Stephanie Rebensburg, Markus Helfer, Michael Schindler, Ruth Brack-Werner P71 The PPARG antagonism disconnects the HIV replication and effector functions in Th17 cells Yuwei Zhang, Huicheng Chen, Delphine Planas, Annie Bernier, Annie Gosselin, Jean-Pierre Routy, Petronela Ancuta P72 Characterisation of a multiresistant subtype AG reverse transcriptase: AZT resistance, sensitivity to RNase H inhibitors and inhibitor binding Birgitta Wöhrl, Anna Schneider, Angela Corona, Imke Spöring, Mareike Jordan, Bernd Buchholz, Elias Maccioni, Roberto Di Santo, Jochen Bodem, Enzo Tramontano, Kristian Schweimer P73 Insigths into the acetylation pattern of HDAC inhibitors and their potential role in HIV therapy Christian Schölz, Brian Weinert, Sebastian Wagner, Petra Beli, Yasuyuki Miyake, Jun Qi, Lars Jensen, Werner Streicher, Anna McCarthy, Nicholas Westwood, Sonia Lain, Jürgen Cox, Patrick Matthias, Matthias Mann, James Bradner, Chunaram Choudhary P74 HPV-derived and seminal amyloid peptides enhance HIV-1 infection and impair the efficacy of broadly neutralising antibodies and antiretroviral drugs Marcel Stern, Oliver T. Keppler P75 D(−)lentiginosine inhibits both proliferation and virus expression in cells infected by HTLV-1 in vitro Elena Valletta, Caterina Frezza, Claudia Matteucci, Francesca Marino-Merlo, Sandro Grelli, Anna Lucia Serafino, Antonio Mastino, Beatrice Macchi P76 HIV-1 resistance analyses of the Cape Winelands districts, South Africa Sello Mikasi, Graeme Jacobs, Susan Engelbrecht Topic 10: Recent advances in HIV vaccine development P77 Induction of complex retrovirus antigen-specific immune responses by adenovirus-based vectors depends on the order of vector administration Meike Kaulfuß, Sonja Windmann, Wibke Bayer P78 Direct impact of structural properties of HIV-1 Env on the regulation of the humoral immune response Rebecca Heß, Michael Storcksdieck gen. Bonsmann, Viktoria Stab, Carsten Kirschning, Bernd Lepenies, Matthias Tenbusch, Klaus Überla P79 Lentiviral virus-like particles mediate gerenration of T-follicular helper cells in vitro Anne Kolenbrander, Klaus Überla, Vladimir Temchura P80 Recruitment of HIV-1 Vpr to DNA damage sites and protection of proviral DNA from nuclease activity Kenta Iijima, Junya Kobayashi, Yukihito Ishizaka