Abstract
This mini-review summarizes techniques applied in, and results obtained with, proteomic studies of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)–T cell interaction. Our group previously reported on the use of two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) coupled to matrix assisted laser-desorption time of flight peptide mass fingerprint analysis, to study T cell responses upon HIV-1 infection. Only one in three differentially expressed proteins could be identified using this experimental setup. Here we report on our latest efforts to test models generated by this data set and extend its analysis by using novel bioinformatic algorithms. The 2D-DIGE results are compared with other studies including a pilot study using one-dimensional peptide separation coupled to MSE, a novel mass spectrometric approach. It can be concluded that although the latter method detects fewer proteins, it is much faster and less labor intensive. Last but not least, recent developments and remaining challenges in the field of proteomic studies of HIV-1 infection and proteomics in general are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS, uses CD4+ T cells as a host. In order to do so efficiently the virus adapts the host cell’s intracellular metabolism. The host cell, in turn, initiates intracellular antiviral responses and signals to the host’s immune system (). Thus, HIV-1 infection and the host response trigger many physiological changes in the infected cell (). HIV-1 survives and persists in infected cells preparing them for production and release of new viral particles. Intracellular changes due to HIV-1 infection have been studied extensively, focusing on the contribution of HIV-1’s accessory proteins to these processes, using microarrays or serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) to detect mRNA changes in the cell (; ; ; ; ). Gene expression profiling with microarrays is of course easy to perform, generating large datasets quickly (), but sequences must be known in advance, which SAGE does not require. SAGE, based on direct sequencing of mRNA tags, also does not use hybridization as microarrays do, leading to more reliable probing of mRNA levels. SAGE is currently being replaced by high-throughput sequencing technologies (RNA-Seq; ). Proteome changes upon HIV infection have also been studied in detail with mass spectrometry (; ; ; ), lately focusing on studies specifically monitoring direct interactions between viral and cellular proteins (,).
Changes in gene expression patterns characterize the cellular response to HIV-1 infection. However, changes in mRNA levels are only part of the story. Often stringent correlation between mRNA and protein levels is lacking (). In human cells, transcription seems to explain only 30% of variation in protein levels, with translation and protein degradation contributing up to 40% (; ). In E. coli, relative contributions to regulation of protein levels via transcriptional and/or translational control have even been shown to vary greatly with the kind of signal the cell responds to (). Direct cellular responses are also strongly accompanied by coordinated protein modifications. A protein can exist in many different isoforms, each with its own specific function, with a relatively limited number of genes giving rise to vast amounts of (functionally) distinct proteins (). This is mostly accomplished by post-translational protein modification (PTM). PTMs constitute highly versatile systems allowing cells to respond very quickly to both external and internal signals, as illustrated by protein phosphorylation in signal transduction or metabolic regulation. Of course, such PTM responses cannot be detected using DNA/RNA sequencing technologies. Thus, proteomic studies using mass spectrometry to detect and quantify differences in protein expression, protein isoforms and complexes, as well as PTMs, are essential for understanding the complete set of intracellular responses to HIV-1 infection. In this way new insights and intervention strategies can be developed.
In a previous study, we used the fluorescence two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) technique for a comparison of uninfected and HIV-1 infected T cells (). This technique starts out with minimal protein labeling using cyanine based fluorescent probes recognizing lysine. A subsequent two-dimensional gel electrophoresis allows the quantification of changes in protein expression by mixing cell extracts labeled either with Cy3 or Cy5 and running them on a single gel (; ). Next, differentially expressed proteins can be identified by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) using a matrix assisted laser-desorption time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer. PMF uses lists of masses of peptides (“fingerprints”) generated by tryptic digestion of proteins for their identification. NB: In this approach quantification is based on amount of fluorescence and not on ion detection level in a mass spectrometer. The study confirmed several HIV-1 effects on pathways and cellular processes previously described using stable isotope labeling combined with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS; ). But there were novel findings as well, most importantly the downregulation of proteins involved in glycolysis upon full-blown HIV-1 infection, presumably part of a complete metabolic rerouting to preserve glucose for the pentose phosphate pathway, the source of riboses for subsequent viral nucleic acid synthesis (). However, despite the success of this 2D-DIGE PMF approach it also comes with some limitations: the technique is very labor intensive and about two-thirds of all the differentially expressed proteins detected could not be identified using PMF because they were not present in sufficient abundance. As we are planning to extend our proteomic analysis of HIV-1 T cell interaction to subcellular fractions, a faster method would be preferable. To that end we compared the 2D-DIGE PMF with one-dimensional separation of peptides using reversed phase LC coupled to MSE () analysis, again using T cells infected with HIV-1. In this approach target proteins are digested with trypsin (as in the PMF method mentioned above), and resulting peptides (parent ions in Figure 1) are now identified as coming from certain proteins by the mass analysis of their fragments (daughter ions in Figure 1), which allows peptide sequencing [in both data-dependent modes of acquisition (DDA) and MSE applications described below] as well as protein quantitation by peptide signal abundance.
FIGURE 1
A PILOT STUDY USING LC–MSE
One of the most exciting new developments in proteomic analyses is the possibility to perform quantitative protein comparisons without having to introduce quantifiable labels: label-free proteomics. Here we report on the use of label-free proteomics in a pilot study of T cells (PM1 T cell line) infected with HIV-1 (LAI isolate). In this setup a novel data-independent alternate scanning technique (MSE) on a quadrupole time of flight (QTOF) instrument is used. In contrast to DDA, making up the standard method on various types of instruments used in peptide based proteomics, MSE does not select a single precursor ion for fragmentation but rather fragments “all” ions present at any given time during chromatographic separation. As such, mass spectrometric data are collected (in principle) on fragments of “all” ions instead of a subset that is selected for fragmentation during DDA analysis. This decreases bias toward selecting only highly abundant peptides and eliminates the need to measure samples multiple times in order to collect tandem-MS data for “all” ions present (Figure 1). In this manner, MSE greatly expands the number of peptides detected using limited LC-separation compared to DDA on QTOF type instruments (
A drawback of MSE is its incompatibility with quantitation schemes that make use of an amine reactive isotopic-label and specific reporter fragment ions to ascertain protein quantity such as iTRAQ (isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification;
FOLLOW-UP RESEARCH USING RNAi-MEDIATED KNOCKDOWN OF CELL FACTORS
Follow-up study on some of the proteins identified in the 2D-DIGE study was performed with an RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown screen. Protein induction may reflect host defensive mechanisms to prevent or restrict virus infection or replication. Alternatively, such changes may represent a viral strategy to induce cellular factors facilitating specific steps of the replication cycle (cofactors). For 76 cellular targets the impact on HIV-1 replication was studied upon mRNA knockdown, using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) inhibitors from the MissionTM library (
BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS OF 2D-DIGE DATA
As mentioned above, one of the most severe limitations of the 2D-DIGE PMF approach lies in the fact that about two-thirds of all the differentially expressed proteins detected cannot be identified using PMF, as they are not sufficiently abundant. This reflects the major challenge in all proteomic studies: identification and (relative) quantification of proteins with lower abundancies. We detected 1920 spots, of which 15% (288) were differentially expressed at 7–10 days post-infection (p.i.;
FIGURE 2

How to identify candidate proteins based on pI and Mw. For details see text.
DISCUSSION
Comparing proteomic studies that address HIV–T cell interaction, it is observed that the various approaches yield a wide range in reported numbers of quantifiable proteins, ranging from 3255 (
Given all this complexity, it is safe to say that proteomic studies on HIV-1 in general, and on HIV–T cell interaction in particular, will continue to generate new insights. But it will not be easy to translate these snapshot datasets into a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of all interactions involved (
Another example of zooming in on specific protein subsets is the use of methods to enrich for cellular factors that directly interact with HIV-1 proteins. Exciting results have been obtained with such “interactome proteomics” methods. The most general approach was performed with tagged versions of all 18 HIV-1 (poly)proteins. The accessory factors Vif, Vpu, Vpr, and Nef, Tat and Rev, as well as the polyproteins Gag, Pol, and Gp160, and their processed products (MA, CA, NC, and p6; PR, RT, and IN; Gp120 and Gp41, respectively) were used as bait. Interacting proteins were subjected to proteomic analysis by tryptic digestion followed by LC–MS/MS, again using an Orbitrap (
In many cases results of proteomic studies were compared with the results of stable RNAi-knockdown experiments. Global approaches to identify host cofactors usually consist of screening for reduced viral replication upon RNAi knockdown, or enhanced replication in case a cellular restriction factor is hit (
Statements
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
DIGE, HIV-1, host–virus interaction, proteomics, LC–MS/MSE
Citation
Kramer G, Moerland PD, Jeeninga RE, Vlietstra WJ, Ringrose JH, Byrman C, Berkhout B and Speijer D (2012) Proteomic analysis of HIV–T cell interaction: an update. Front. Microbio. 3:240. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2012.00240
Received
05 April 2012
Accepted
15 June 2012
Published
04 July 2012
Volume
3 - 2012
Edited by
Kevin Coombs, University of Manitoba, Canada
Reviewed by
Wataru Nomura, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan Kevin Coombs, University of Manitoba, Canada
Copyright
© Kramer, Moerland, Jeeninga, Vlietstra, Ringrose, Byrman, Berkhout and Speijer.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence: Dave Speijer, K1–262, Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 15, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands. e-mail: d.speijer@amc.uva.nl
This article was submitted to Frontiers in Virology, a specialty of Frontiers in Microbiology.
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