The ENL-USP7 complex regulates HIV latency through BRD4 protein stabilization

Summary: HIV persistence in CD4 + T cells and brain microglia is maintained by host mechanisms that enforce viral latency. We identify ENL and the deubiquitinase USP7 as a host complex that sustains HIV latency. Pharmacologic inhibition or genetic loss of ENL reactivated latent HIV. Proteomic analyses revealed an ENL-USP7-BRD4 regulatory axis associated with latency maintenance, where USP7 maintained BRD4 protein stability. Targeted USP7 degradation using PROTAC induced latency reversal and destabilized BRD4. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies showed that ENL was required for USP7 and BRD4 occupancy at the HIV nuc-1 region but not at the 5′ long terminal repeat. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing further implicated this pathway in HIV persistence within the central nervous system. Importantly, degradation of either ENL or USP7 reactivated latent HIV in resting CD4 + T cells and brain microglia from individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy. These findings identify the ENL-USP7-BRD4 axis as a therapeutically actionable mechanism sustaining HIV latency and viral reservoirs.