Conclusion
ITF2357 is superior to VPA in inducing HIV-1 from latently infected cells. Safely used in humans, ITF2357 is an attractive candidate for HIV-1 clinical purging.
Methods
Latently infected cell lines were incubated with either ITF2357 or VPA and p24 levels were measured. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of uninfected donors were treated with ITF2357 and HIV-1 coreceptors expression was assessed by flow cytometry.
Results
At clinically relevant concentrations, ITF2357 increased p24 by 15-fold in ACH2 cells and by 9-fold in U1 cells, whereas VPA increased expression less than 2-fold. Analogues of ITF2357 primarily targeting HDAC-1 increased p24 up to 30-fold. In CD4(+) T cells treated with ITF2357, CXCR4 expression decreased by 54% (P < 0.001).