APOBEC3 proteins are mammal-specific cytidine deaminases that can restrict retroviral infection. The exact mechanism of the restriction remains unresolved, but one model envisions that uracilated retroviral cDNA, generated by cytidine deamination, is the target of cellular glycosylases. While restriction is unaffected by UNG deficiency, it has been suggested that the SMUG1 glycosylase might pro...

The specificities of the proteases of 11 retroviruses representing each of the seven genera of the family Retroviridae were studied using a series of oligopeptides with amino acid substitutions in the P2 position of a naturally occurring type 1 cleavage site (Val-Ser-Gln-Asn-Tyr Pro-Ile-Val-Gln; the arrow indicates the site of cleavage) in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). This posit...

We examined the properties of the mouse serum lipoprotein responsible for specific neutralization of the endogenous mouse xenotropic (X-tropic) type C retrovirus. The anti-X-tropic virus activity of the mouse lipoprotein neutralizing factor (NF) could not be blocked by sugars or lectins. Moreover, neutralization did not involve rupture of the virion core. Sucrose density gradient analysis of X-...

To characterize the properties of adult neural stem cells (NSCs), we generated and analyzed Sox2-GFP transgenic mice. Sox2-GFP cells in the subgranular zone (SGZ) express markers specific for progenitors, but they represent two morphologically distinct populations that differ in proliferation levels. Lentivirus- and retrovirus-mediated fate-tracing studies showed that Sox2+ cells in the SGZ hav...

Retroviruses produced from the quail packaging cell line SE21Q1b predominantly contain cellular RNAs instead of viral RNAs. These RNAs can be reverse transcribed and integrated into the genomes of newly infected cells and are thereafter referred to as newly formed retrogenes. We investigated whether retrogene formation can occur within SE21Q1b cells themselves and whether this occurs intracellu...

A precise ratio of Gag:Gag-Pol expression is required for assembly of infectious retroviral virions. In this issue of Cell, Orlova et al. show that MoMLV reverse transcriptase binds the translation release factor eRF1, and that this interaction promotes translation readthrough to make Gag-Pol.

With the launch of second line anti-retroviral therapy for HIV infected individuals, there has been an increased expectation on surviving period of people with HIV. We consider previously well-known models in HIV epidemiology where the parameter for incubation period is used as one of the important components to explain the dynamics of the variables. Such models are extended here to explain the...

Aiming to assess the impact of the intervention in reducing the patients' waiting time in the clinic, two surveys were conducted before and after task shifting intervention in an anti-retroviral (ARV) clinic at the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, Nigeria in November 2008 and April 2009, respectively. Before the task shifting, six nurses from the clinic were trained on integrated management of adol...