Antioxidant nanozyme counteracts HIV-1 by modulating intracellular redox potential

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulates the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) during infection. However, the application of this knowledge to develop therapeutic strategies remained unsuccessful due to the harmful consequences of manipulating cellular antioxidant systems. Here, we show that vanadium pentoxide (V₂ O₅ ) nanosheets functionally mimic natural glutathione peroxidase activity to mitigate ROS associated with HIV-1 infection without adversely affecting cellular physiology. Using genetic reporters of glutathione redox potential and hydrogen peroxide, we showed that V₂ O₅ nanosheets catalyze ROS neutralization in HIV-1-infected cells and uniformly block viral reactivation and replication. Mechanistically, V₂ O₅ nanosheets suppressed HIV-1 by affecting the expression of pathways coordinating redox balance, virus transactivation (e.g., NF-κB), inflammation, and apoptosis. Importantly, a combination of V₂ O₅ nanosheets with a pharmacological inhibitor of NF-κB (BAY11-7082) abrogated reactivation of HIV-1. Lastly, V₂ O₅ nanosheets inhibit viral reactivation upon prostratin stimulation of latently infected CD4⁺ T cells from HIV-infected patients receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Our data successfully revealed the usefulness of V₂ O₅ nanosheets against HIV and suggested nanozymes as future platforms to develop interventions against infectious diseases.