microRNA Expression Profile on Stimulated Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from HIV-1 infected Elite Controllers, Viremic Patients, Treated Patients and Uninfected Donors. Homo sapiens

Background: The emerging relationship between microRNAs (miRNA) and viral-control is a topic of interest in the field of HIV. Host-genome might play an important role in the control of viremia. The aim of this study was to assess the specific miRNA profile that could contribute to the control of HIV replication in Elite Controllers Results: After adequate normalization, expression profile of 286 human miRNAs (hsa-miR) was evaluated in phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated PBMCs from 29 individuals classified in 4 groups: 8 elite controllers (EC; viral load 5000 cp/ml without treatment), 8 patients under antiretroviral treatment (ART; VL<200cp/ml) and 5 uninfected individuals (HIV-) through TaqMan® Array Human microRNA Cards v3.0. A differential expression pattern consisting of 23 miRNAs overcame significantly different when comparing EC and VP. Profiling analysis segregated the population in two different blocks: while EC and HIV- clustered together in the same block (EC/HIV-_block 1), VP and ART individuals clustered together in a second block (VP/ART_block 2). Two inversely expressed miRNA patterns were determined within those two blocks: a set of 4 miRNAs (hsa-miR-221, -27a, -27b and -29b) was up-expressed in EC/HIV-_block and down-expressed in VP/ART_block while 19 miRNAs were down-expressed in block 1 and up-expressed in block 2. Differential miRNAs were successfully validated through individual RT-qPCR assays. Conclusions: Profile in EC resembled HIV- and differentially clusters with VP and ART. Therefore, differential clustering does not rely on undetectable viremia. Overall design: Peripheral blood mononuclear cell were collected and processed from five uninfected controls, eight HIV-1-infected viremic patients, eight HIV-1-infected elite controllers with undetectable viral load without treatment and eight HIV-1-infected antiretroviral-treated individuals with undetectable viral load.