Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Melissa Kane, PhD, for her recent publication in mBio titled, “Interplay between the cyclophilin homology domain of RANBP2 and MX2 regulates HIV-1 capsid dependencies on nucleoporins.” Kane is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in our Division of Infectious Diseases and an RK Mellon Scholar. 
This research, a result of the collaboration of three separate institution across the country, focuses on the interactions between the viral capsid (CA), nucleoporins (Nups), and the antiviral protein myxovirus resistance 2 (MX2/MXB) - which ultimately influence human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) nuclear entry and infection outcome - and the mechanism with which RANBP2/NUP358 facilitates infection. This interplay is widely recognized to be significant, though poorly understood.
To address this knowledge gap, Kane and collaborating researchers utilized CRISPR-Cas9 to generate cell lines with specific characteristics and found that both HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections were significantly reduced in RANBP2ΔCyp cells. This important discovery led to a determination that the effect of the RANBP2-Cyp domain on MX2 anti-HIV-1 activity is due to direct interactions between RANBP2 and CA. These findings, among others, demonstrate that the RANBP2-Cyp domain affects viral infection and MX2 sensitivity by altering CA-specific interactions with cellular factors that affect nuclear import and integration targeting.
Other contributing authors from the University of Pittsburgh on this study include first author Haley Flick, MS (Infectious Diseases), Ananya Venbakkam, PhD candidate (Infectious Diseases), Bailey Layish (Infectious Diseases), with Kane serving as last author. Other contributors have affiliations with Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and the Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Colorado.
Join us in celebrating this fantastic publication. And follow Pitt Pediatrics on Bluesky and Instagram for future updates on faculty publications, grants, and research recognitions.