About this Research Topic
It is well documented that the viral replication is robust in actively proliferating infected cells but remains silent in the quiescent cells until reactivation occurs. Recent studies have illuminated the intricate interplay between dynamic regulation of HIV-1 replication and host transcription related events, encompassing alterations in chromatin environment, the abundance of key transcription factors (TFs), transcriptional interference (TI), viral RNA export, and RNA interference.
Different epigenetic markers have been reported to monitor the levels of viral replication, but the detailed mechanisms or other potential new markers are still needed to be further investigated. As for the TFs, current studies only get a peak on the exact regulating ways to affect the viral replication. Limited studies have focused on how TI and RNA interference participate in the viral replication, thus calling for extensive research to verify such regulations. Considering recent studies about how P-TEFb regulate HIV-1 infection both in proliferating or quiescent cells, it becomes paramount to unravel the reasons underlying the similar pattern in levels P-TEFb and HIV-1 replication.
Taken together, this research topic is aiming to decipher the detailed mechanisms about how all above cellular machineries regulate HIV-1 replication. These will not just complement the fundamental knowledges of the life cycle of HIV-1, but also shed new lights on understanding the balance and dynamics between HIV-1 replication and host transcriptional regulation.
We welcome authors to contribute with original research, reviews, mini-reviews as well as other article types accepted in the journal that include, but are not limited to the following sub-themes:
1. Defining new mechanisms how the host TFs regulate the proviral replication.
2. Exploring how TI and RNA interference negatively regulate HIV-1 replication.
3. Identify the potential new epigenetic markers correlated with chromatin structures and transcription levels of provirus.
4. Revealing the correlations between dynamic P-TEFb levels in quiescent or proliferating cells and HIV-1 replication levels.
Keywords: epigenetic, HIV-1, Replication, Transcription, Latency, Quiescent cells, P-TEFb, Transcription interference, Transcription factors
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.