In-depth single-cell analysis of translation-competent HIV-1 reservoirs identifies cellular sources of plasma viremia

Abstract

Clonal expansion of HIV-infected cells contributes to the long-term persistence of the HIV reservoir in ART-suppressed individuals. However, the contribution to plasma viremia from cell clones that harbor inducible proviruses is poorly understood. Here, we describe a single-cell approach to simultaneously sequence the TCR, integration sites and proviral genomes from translation-competent reservoir cells, called STIP-Seq. By applying this approach to blood samples from eight participants, we showed that the translation-competent reservoir mainly consists of proviruses with short deletions at the 5-end of the genome, often involving the major splice donor site. TCR and integration site sequencing revealed that antigen-responsive cells can harbor inducible proviruses integrated into cancer-related genes. Furthermore, we found several matches between proviruses retrieved with STIP-Seq and plasma viruses obtained during ART and upon treatment interruption, showing that STIP-Seq can capture clones that are responsible for low-level viremia or viral rebound.