Extremely excited to share this new paper from my graduate work in the Overbaugh lab! @NatureMicrobiol @FredHutch @MCBSeattle

@hirenj @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle -- Since heparan sulfate hinders X4 binding, determining the exact stage that X4s are blocked (binding vs fusion since we narrowed it to entry here) could help inform this

@MollyOhainle @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle Thanks Molly!! Another exciting finding from HIV-CRISPR screens 😍

@Gowda_24 @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle -- so it isn't surprising that, as genetic diversity accumulates over the course of infection, X4 viruses emerge

@Ella_Maru @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle It is possible though that the glycosylation profile on target cells in different anatomical sites is different than that in the blood and initial infection sites – so as the virus spreads to different areas, the effect of host glycosylation on R5 vs X4 infection may vary

@AsAshraf123321 @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle Thanks!!

@David_RMartinez @LabWaggoner @NatureMicrobiol @fredhutch @MCBSeattle Thanks David!!

RT @fredhutch: 40 years after the discovery of #HIV, a vaccine still eludes researchers because of the virus' complex biology. Researcher…

Two equally impressive accomplishments reported back-to-back by @science_seattle 😂

RT @science_seattle: 🦠 @fredhutch researchers led by Dr. @HannahItell discover why some HIV-1 variants are more transmissible than others,…

RT @NatureMicrobiol: Hot off the press 🔥 Host cell glycosylation selects for infection with CCR5- versus CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 Spearheaded b…

We’re excited to share these findings and contribute to the growing body of work highlighting the importance of virus-glycan interactions during infection!

We find that a gene involved in glycosylation called SLC35A2 differentially impacts HIV based on which coreceptor the virus uses. Wildtype SLC35A2 expression impairs X4 viruses and promotes R5 infection in primary CD4 T cells – the same bias that exists during HIV transmission

Here, we wanted to see if we could find a host protein that may be contributing to coreceptor tropism selection during the HIV transmission bottleneck. Transmitted HIV strains are nearly always CCR5-tropic (R5) as opposed to CXCR4-tropic (X4), but why this is has remained unclear