Targeted plasma proteomics identifies MICA and IL1R1 proteins associated with HIV-1 reservoir size
iScience, 2023
Blaauw M., Cristina dos Santos J., Vadaq N., Trypsteen W., van der Heijden W., Groenendijk A., Zhang Z., Li Y., de Mast Q., Netea M., Joosten L., Vandekerckhove L., van der Ven A., Matzaraki V.
| Disease area | Application area | Sample type | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
Infectious Diseases | Pathophysiology Patient Stratification | Plasma |  Olink Explore 3072/384 |
Abstract
HIV-1 reservoir shows high variability in size and activity among virally suppressed individuals. Differences in size of the viral reservoir may relate to differences in plasma protein concentrations. We tested whether plasma protein expression levels are associated with levels of cell associated (CA) HIV-1 DNA and RNA in 211 virally suppressed people living with HIV (PLHIV). Plasma concentrations of FOLR1, IL1R1, MICA and FETUB showed a positive association with CA HIV-1 RNA and DNA. Moreover, SNPs in close proximity to IL1R1 and MICA genes were found to influence the levels of CA HIV-1 RNA and DNA. We found a difference in mRNA expression of MICA gene in homozygotes carrying rs9348866-A allele compared to the ones carrying the G allele (P < 0.005). Overall, our findings pinpoint plasma proteins that could serve as potential targets for therapeutic interventions to lower or even eradicate cells containing CA HIV-1 RNA and DNA in PLHIV.