Back to Search
Start Over
Curcuma Longa Induces the Transcription Factor FOXP3 to Downregulate Human Chemokine CCR5 Expression and Inhibit HIV-1 Infection.
- Source :
- American Journal of Chinese Medicine; 2023, Vol. 51 Issue 5, p1189-1209, 21p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- HIV mutations occur frequently despite the substantial success of combination antiretroviral therapy, which significantly impairs HIV progression. Failure to develop specific vaccines, the occurrence of drug-resistant strains, and the high incidence of adverse effects due to combination antiviral therapy regimens call for novel and safer antivirals. Natural products are an important source of new anti-infective agents. For instance, curcumin inhibits HIV and inflammation in cell culture assays. Curcumin, the principal constituent of the dried rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. (turmeric), is known as a strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent with different pharmacological effects. This work aims to assess curcumin's inhibitory effects on HIV in vitro and to explore the underpinning mechanism, focusing on CCR5 and the transcription factor forkhead box protein P3 (FOXP3). First, curcumin and the RT inhibitor zidovudine (AZT) were evaluated for their inhibitory properties. HIV-1 pseudovirus infectivity was determined by green fluorescence and luciferase activity measurements in HEK293T cells. AZT was used as a positive control that inhibited HIV-1 pseudoviruses dose-dependently, with IC50 values in the nanomolar range. Then, a molecular docking analysis was carried out to assess the binding affinities of curcumin for CCR5 and HIV-1 RNase H/RT. The anti-HIV activity assay showed that curcumin inhibited HIV-1 infection, and the molecular docking analysis revealed equilibrium dissociation constants of − 9.8 kcal/mol and − 9.3 kcal/mol between curcumin and CCR5 and HIV-1 RNase H/RT, respectively. To examine curcumin's anti-HIV effect and its mechanism in vitro, cell cytotoxicity, transcriptome sequencing, and CCR5 and FOXP3 amounts were assessed at different concentrations of curcumin. In addition, human CCR5 promoter deletion constructs and the FOXP3 expression plasmid pRP–FOXP3 (with an EGFP tag) were generated. Whether FOXP3 DNA binding to the CCR5 promoter was blunted by curcumin was examined using transfection assays employing truncated CCR5 gene promoter constructs, a luciferase reporter assay, and a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Furthermore, micromolar concentrations of curcumin inactivated the nuclear transcription factor FOXP3, which resulted in decreased expression of CCR5 in Jurkat cells. Moreover, curcumin inhibited PI3K-AKT activation and its downstream target FOXP3. These findings provide mechanistic evidence encouraging further assessment of curcumin as a dietary agent used to reduce the virulence of CCR5-tropic HIV-1. Curcumin-mediated FOXP3 degradation was also reflected in its functions, namely, CCR5 promoter transactivation and HIV-1 virion production. Furthermore, curcumin inhibition of CCR5 and HIV-1 might constitute a potential therapeutic strategy for reducing HIV progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- BIOTHERAPY
HIV prevention
HIV infections
DISEASE progression
IN vitro studies
MEDICINAL plants
COMBINATION drug therapy
ANALYSIS of variance
INFLAMMATION
ANTI-inflammatory agents
ANTIRETROVIRAL agents
DRUG resistance
ANTIVIRAL agents
ANTI-infective agents
ANTIOXIDANTS
TURMERIC
GENE expression
T-test (Statistics)
GENE expression profiling
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RESEARCH funding
CHEMOKINES
MOLECULAR structure
AZIDOTHYMIDINE
COMPUTER-assisted molecular modeling
DATA analysis software
HIV
CHINESE medicine
CARRIER proteins
EVALUATION
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0192415X
- Volume :
- 51
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- American Journal of Chinese Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 165476418
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X23500544