Identification of strategies for the eradication of chronic viral infections
Our group has had a long-standing interest in the identification of strategies for the eradication of viral chronic infections. After having provided several important contributions to the discovery of the successful anti-HCV drugs, we are now focusing our effort on the identification of viral or cellular factors that could be targeted in order to achieve a cure for chronic hepatitis B, and on studying the mechanisms of establishment and maintenance of the HIV “silent” reservoir, which currently represents the main obstacle to the eradication of HIV infection.
Towards a cure for chronic hepatitis B
Chronic hepatits B is recognized as one of the most common causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide, leading to hundreds of thousand deaths every year. Treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection with antiviral therapy has led to a significant reduction in mortality related to chronic hepatitis B. However, unlike in the case for HCV, a virological cure is hardly achieved and the virus may persist in the liver of treated patients for their lifetime. The stability of the HBV genome, which forms a stable minichromosome, the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in the hepatocyte nucleus, is believed to be the main reason for life-long HBV persistence. Currently, drugs approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B include formulations of alpha-IFN and nucleos(t)ide analogs that inhibit HBV DNA polymerase. IFN-based treatment is effective in achieving a sustained virological response in only a fraction of patients and is associated with severe side-effects. Conversely, nucleos(t)ide analogs are well tolerated and potently suppress HBV replication in the majority of treated patients. However, these drugs rarely lead to permanent suppression of HBV. Life-long nucleos(t)ide analog treatment is required to continuously suppress HBV replication, which may be associated with significant cost burden, long-term drug-associated toxicity and a residual risk of developing HCC. There is, therefore, a pressing need for the discovery of therapeutic strategies effective in clearing HBV cccDNA (“complete cure”), or at least achieving stable suppression of gene expression from the cccDNA (“functional cure”).
In the context of the CurB collaborative network, we are pursuing a number of strategies aimed at targeting different steps in viral life-cycle. These include the identification of inhibitors of HBV capsid assembly as well as the development of peptide nucleic acids that could selectively be taken up by hepatocytes and interfere with HBV gene expression. Moreover, HBV genomes containing reporter/selectable genes are being developed that could be exploited toward the identification of novel strategies to interfere with the HBV life-cycle.
Unraveling the interplay between CD4 T memory stem cells and HIV
This is a new line of research for the laboratory, that has the objective is to study HIV latency establishment in the different subsets of CD4 T cells. HIV persists over decades despite seemingly effective antiretroviral treatment (HAART). HIV persistence relates to the fact that HIV integrates into the genome of the host cell, thus becoming an integral part of cellular DNA. Infected cells harboring a transcriptionally silent “latent” provirus evade immune surveillance and persist over many years despite long-term HAART. While there is agreement that memory CD4 T cells play a central role in HIV persistence, fundamental gaps remain in our understanding of how HIV latency is established and maintained.
Emerging evidence suggest that CD4 T memory stem cells (TSCM), the least differentiated of all CD4 T cell memory populations, support HIV infection. However, the extent of the impact of TSCM on establishment of HIV latency, persistence and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesize that HIV exploits the stemness of TSCM to create a persistent, self-renewing HIV reservoir, which bypasses the need for de novo infection. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV persistence in CD4+ T memory stem cells is essential to develop targeted interventions allowing shrinking and purging of the latent reservoir.
Projects
- Development of new drug candidates for the cure of chronic hepatitis B (CurB Network)
- The interplay between CD4 T memory stem cells and HIV
- A chemical- and functional- genomic approach aimed at dissecting the role of phosphoinositide signalling in chronic viral infections and in cancer
Team
Nome / Name | Ruolo / Role | |
---|---|---|
Matteo Conti | Laboratory Technician | conti@ingm.org |
Gaia Copaloni | Pre Doctoral Fellow | copaloni@ingm.org |
Francesca De Marco | Student | demarco@ingm.org |
Lorena Donnici | Laboratory Technician | donnici@ingm.org |
Marika Longo Minnolo | Student | longo@ingm.org |
Alessandro Lucini Paioni | Student | lucinipaioni@ingm.org |
Silvia Marchese | Pre Doctoral Fellow | marchese@ingm.org |
Publications
- Exosomes Recovered From the Plasma of COVID-19 Patients Expose SARS-CoV-2 Spike-Derived Fragments and Contribute to the Adaptive Immune Response
Pesce E, Manfrini N, Cordiglieri C, Santi S, Bandera A, Gobbini A, Gruarin P, Favalli A, Bombaci M, Cuomo A, Collino F, Cricrì G, Ungaro R, Lombardi A, Mangioni D, Muscatello A, Aliberti S, Blasi F, Gori A, Abrignani S, De Francesco R, Biffo S and Grifantini R.
Front. Immunol., 2022 Jan 17, doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.785941 - Anti-spike antibodies and neutralising antibody activity in people living with HIV vaccinated with COVID-19 mRNA-1273 vaccine: a prospective single-centre cohort study.
Lombardi A, Butta GM, Donnici L, Bozzi G, Oggioni M, Bono P, Matera M, Consonni D, Ludovisi S, Muscatello A, Ceriotti F, Conti M, Scaglioni S, Gallo G, Scarpa E, Letko M, Abrignani S, Grifantini R, De Francesco R, Gori A, Manganaro L, Bandera A.
Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2021 Dec 23:100287. - Administration of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 to K18-hACE2 mice uncouples respiratory infection from fatal neuroinvasion.
Fumagalli V, Ravà M, Marotta D, Di Lucia P, Laura C, Sala E, Grillo M, Bono E, Giustini L, Perucchini C, Mainetti M, Sessa A, Garcia-Manteiga JM, Donnici L, Manganaro L, Delbue S, Broccoli V, De Francesco R, D’Adamo P, Kuka M, Guidotti LG, Iannacone M.
Sci Immunol. 2021 Nov 23:eabl9929. - DNA aptamers masking angiotensin converting enzyme 2 as an innovative way to treat SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Villa A, Brunialti E, Dellavedova J, Meda C, Rebecchi M, Conti M, Donnici L, Francesco R, Reggiani A, Lionetti V, Ciana P.
Pharmacol Res. 2021 Nov 16:105982. - COVID-eVax, an electroporated plasmid DNA vaccine candidate encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain, elicits protective immune responses in animal models of COVID-19.
Conforti A, Marra E, Palombo F, Roscilli G, Ravà M, Fumagalli V, Muzi A, Maffei M, Luberto L, Lione L, Salvatori E, Compagnone M, Pinto E, Pavoni E, Bucci F, Vitagliano G, Stoppoloni D, Pacello ML, Cappelletti M, Ferrara FF, D’Acunto E, Chiarini V, Arriga R, Nyska A, Di Lucia P, Marotta D, Bono E, Giustini L, Sala E, Perucchini C, Paterson J, Ryan KA, Challis AR, Matusali G, Colavita F, Caselli G, Criscuolo E, Clementi N, Mancini N, Groß R, Seidel A, Wettstein L, Münch J, Donnici L, Conti M, De Francesco R, Kuka M, Ciliberto G, Castilletti C, Capobianchi MR, Ippolito G, Guidotti LG, Rovati L, Iannacone M, Aurisicchio L.
Mol Ther. 2021 Sep 18:S1525-0016(21)00466-4. - Integrated longitudinal immunophenotypic, transcriptional and repertoire analyses delineate immune responses in COVID-19 patients.
Notarbartolo S, Ranzani V, Bandera A, Gruarin P, Bevilacqua V, Putignano AR, Gobbini A, Galeota E, Manara C, Bombaci M, Pesce E, Zagato E, Favalli A, Sarnicola ML, Curti S, Crosti M, Martinovic M, Fabbris T, Marini F, Donnici L, Lorenzo M, Mancino M, Ungaro R, Lombardi A, Mangioni D, Muscatello A, Aliberti S, Blasi F, De Feo T, Prati D, Manganaro L, Granucci F, Lanzavecchia A, De Francesco R, Gori A, Grifantini R, Abrignani S.
Sci Immunol. 2021 Aug 10;6(62):eabg5021. - Novel interferon‑sensitive genes unveiled by correlation‑driven gene selection and systems biology
Cheroni C, Manganaro L, Donnici L, Bevilacqua V, Bonnal JP, Rossi RL, De Francesco R.
Scientific Reports, 2021. 11:18043 - Nanoparticle‐Mediated Suicide Gene Therapy for Triple Negative Breast Cancer Treatment
Salvioni L, Zuppone S, Andreata F, Monieri M, Mazzucchelli S, Di Carlo C, Morelli L, Cordiglieri C, Donnici L,
De Francesco R, Corsi F, Prosperi D, Vago R, and Colombo M
Adv. Therap. 2000007 - Rare Pathogenic Variants Predispose to Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
Pelusi S, Baselli G, Pietrelli A, Dongiovanni P, Donati B, McCain MV, Meroni M, Fracanzani AL, Romagnoli R, Petta S, Grieco A, Miele L, Soardo G, Bugianesi E, Fargion S, Aghemo A, D’Ambrosio R, Xing C, Romeo S, De Francesco R, Reeves HL, Valenti LVC.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 6;9(1):3682. - IL-15 regulates susceptibility of CD4+ T cells to HIV infection.
Manganaro L, Hong P, Hernandez MM, Argyle D, Mulder LCF, Potla U, Diaz-Griffero F, Lee B, Fernandez-Sesma A, Simon V.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2018) 115:E9659-E9667 - NS5A inhibitors unmask differences in functional replicase complex half-life between different hepatitis C virus strains.
Benzine T, Brandt R, Lovell WC, Yamane D, Neddermann P, De Francesco R, Lemon SM, Perelson AS, Ke R, McGivern DR.
PLoS Pathog (2017) 13:e1006343 - Tuning a cellular lipid kinase activity adapts hepatitis C virus to replication in cell culture.
Harak C, Meyrath M, Romero-Brey I, Schenk C, Gondeau C, Schult P, Esser-Nobis K, Saeed M, Neddermann P, Schnitzler P, Gotthardt D, Perez-Del-Pulgar S, Neumann-Haefelin C, Thimme R, Meuleman P, Vondran FW, Francesco R, Rice CM, Bartenschlager R, Lohmann V.
Nat Microbiol (2016) 2:16247 - Mutations in Encephalomyocarditis Virus 3A Protein Uncouple the Dependency of Genome Replication on Host Factors Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase IIIalpha and Oxysterol-Binding Protein.
Dorobantu CM, Albulescu L, Lyoo H, van Kampen M, De Francesco R, Lohmann V, Harak C, van der Schaar HM, Strating JR, Gorbalenya AE, van Kuppeveld FJ.
mSphere (2016) 1 - Daclatasvir: a team player rather than a prima donna in the treatment of hepatitis C.
Aghemo A, De Francesco R.
Gut (2015) 64:860-2 - Hepatitis C Virus Deletion Mutants Are Found in Individuals Chronically Infected with Genotype 1 Hepatitis C Virus in Association with Age, High Viral Load and Liver Inflammatory Activity.
Cheroni C, Donnici L, Aghemo A, Balistreri F, Bianco A, Zanoni V, Pagani M, Soffredini R, D’Ambrosio R, Rumi MG, Colombo M, Abrignani S, Neddermann P, De Francesco R.
PLoS One (2015) 10:e0138546 - Kinetic analyses reveal potent and early blockade of hepatitis C virus assembly by NS5A inhibitors.
McGivern DR, Masaki T, Williford S, Ingravallo P, Feng Z, Lahser F, Asante-Appiah E, Neddermann P, De Francesco R, Howe AY, Lemon SM.
Gastroenterology (2014) 147:453-62 e7 - NS5A inhibitors impair NS5A-phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIalpha complex formation and cause a decrease of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and cholesterol levels in hepatitis C virus-associated membranes.
Reghellin V, Donnici L, Fenu S, Berno V, Calabrese V, Pagani M, Abrignani S, Peri F, De Francesco R, Neddermann P.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother (2014) 58:7128-40 - Oxysterol-binding protein is a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase effector required for HCV replication membrane integrity and cholesterol trafficking.
Wang H, Perry JW, Lauring AS, Neddermann P, De Francesco R, Tai AW.
Gastroenterology (2014) 146:1373-85 e1-11 - New horizons in hepatitis C antiviral therapy with direct-acting antivirals.
Aghemo A, De Francesco R.
Hepatology (2013) 58:428-38 - IL28B polymorphisms predict interferon-related hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance in genotype D hepatitis B e antigen-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B.
Lampertico P, Vigano M, Cheroni C, Facchetti F, Invernizzi F, Valveri V, Soffredini R, Abrignani S, De Francesco R, Colombo M.
Hepatology (2013) 57:890-6 - Metabolism of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIalpha-dependent PI4P Is subverted by HCV and is targeted by a 4-anilino quinazoline with antiviral activity.
Bianco A, Reghellin V, Donnici L, Fenu S, Alvarez R, Baruffa C, Peri F, Pagani M, Abrignani S, Neddermann P, De Francesco R.
PLoS Pathog (2012) 8:e1002576