The CDK Inhibitor p21Cip1/WAF1 Is Induced by FcγR Activation and Restricts the Replication of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Related Primate Lentiviruses in Human Macrophages

Macrophages are major targets of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We have previously shown that aggregation of activating immunoglobulin G Fc receptors (Fc gamma R) by immune complexes inhibits reverse transcript accumulation and integration of HIV-1 and related lentiviruses in monocyte-derived macrophages. Here, we show that Fc gamma R-mediated restriction of HIV-1 is not due to enhanced degradation of incoming viral proteins or cDNA and is associated to the induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(Cip1/WAF1) (p21). Small interfering RNA-mediated p21 knockdown rescued viral replication in Fc gamma R-activated macrophages and enhanced HIV-1 infection in unstimulated macrophages by increasing reverse transcript and integrated DNA levels. p21 induction by other stimuli, such as phorbol myristate acetate and the histone deacetylase inhibitor MS-275, was also associated with preintegrative blocks of HIV-1 replication in macrophages. Binding of p21 to reverse transcription/preintegration complex-associated HIV-1 proteins was not detected in yeast two-hybrid, pulldown, or coimmunoprecipitation assays, suggesting that p21 may affect viral replication independently of a specific interaction with an HIV-1 component. Consistently, p21 silencing rescued viral replication from the Fc gamma R-mediated restriction also in simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac- and HIV-2-infected macrophages. Our results point to a role of p21 as an inhibitory factor of lentiviral infection in macrophages and to its implication in Fc gamma R-mediated restriction.