Evidence for an Activation Domain at the Amino Terminus of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Vpx

Phosphorylation by MAPK regulates simian immunodeficiency virus Vpx protein nuclear import and virus infectivity.

Transport of the viral genome into the nucleus required phosphorylation of components in the preintegration complex by virion-associated host cellular kinases. In this study, we showed that ERK-2/MAPK is associated with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) virions and regulated the nuclear transport of Vpx and virus replication in non-proliferating target cells by phosphorylating Vpx. Suppressio...

Virus-Induced IL-2 Expression by Central Virus/Simian Human Immunodeficiency Dysfunction of Simian Immunodeficiency

Binding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag to membrane: role of the matrix amino terminus.

Binding of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag protein precursor, Pr55(Gag), to membrane is an indispensable step in virus assembly. Previously, we reported that a matrix (MA) residue 6 substitution (6VR) imposed a virus assembly defect similar to that observed with myristylation-defective mutants, suggesting that the 6VR change impaired membrane binding. Intriguingly, the 6VR m...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 Vpx-Gag interaction.

Incorporation of Vpx into human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) virus-like particles is mediated by the Gag polyprotein. We have identified residues 15 to 40 of Gag p6 and residues 73 to 89 of Vpx as being necessary for virion incorporation. In addition, we show enhanced in vitro binding of Vpx to a chimeric HIV-1/HIV-2 Gag construct containing residues 2 to 49 of HIV-2 p6 and demonstrate...

Simian immunodeficiency virus mac251 infection of astrocytes.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of astrocytes has been demonstrated in the brains of patients with AIDS dementia complex (ADC) and may play an important role in neuropathological pathways of HIV-related encephalopathy. SIVmac-infected monkeys develop an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with CNS involvement which is quite similar to that seen in human AIDS. We inve...