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HIV-induced membraneless organelles orchestrate post-nuclear entry steps 
Viviana Scoca1 , Renaud Morin2 , Maxence Collard1 , Jean-Yves Tinevez3 , Francesca Di Nunzio1,*
1Advanced Molecular Virology Unit, Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, 75015 Paris, France
2Imactiv-3D, 1 Place Pierre Potier, 31106 Toulouse, France
3Image Analysis Hub/C2RT, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, 75015 Paris, France
*Correspondence to:Francesca Di Nunzio , Email:dinunzio@pasteur.fr
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 14, Issue 11, November 2022, mjac060,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjac060
Keyword: HIV, nuclear condensates, nuclear remodelling, phase separation, reverse transcription

HIV integration occurs in chromatin sites that favor the release of high levels of viral progeny; alternatively, the virus is also able to discreetly coexist with the host. The viral infection perturbs the cellular environment inducing the remodelling of the nuclear landscape. Indeed, HIV-1 triggers the nuclear clustering of the host factor CPSF6, but the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Our data indicate that HIV usurps a recently discovered biological phenomenon, called liquid–liquid phase separation, to hijack the host cell. We observed CPSF6 clusters as part of HIV-induced membraneless organelles (HIV-1 MLOs) in macrophages, one of the main HIV target cell types. We describe that HIV-1 MLOs follow phase-separation rules and represent functional biomolecular condensates. We highlight HIV-1 MLOs as hubs of nuclear reverse transcription, while the double-stranded viral DNA, once formed, rapidly migrates outside these structures. Transcription-competent proviruses localize outside but near HIV-1 MLOs in LEDGF-abundant regions, known to be active chromatin sites. Therefore, HIV-1 MLOs orchestrate viral events prior to the integration step and create a favorable environment for the viral replication. This study uncovers single functional host–viral complexes in their nuclear landscape, which is markedly restructured by HIV-1.