HIV-1 Nef enhances both membrane expression and virion incorporation of Env products. A model for the Nef-dependent increase of HIV-1 infectivity

Autor: Ilaria, Schiavoni, Susanna, Trapp, Anna Claudia, Santarcangelo, Valentina, Piacentini, Katherina, Pugliese, Andreas, Baur, Maurizio, Federico
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of biological chemistry. 279(22)
ISSN: 0021-9258
Popis: The expression of human immunodeficiency virus Nef increases the viral infectivity through mechanisms still not fully elucidated. Here we report that wild-type (wt) human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1), particles were neutralized by higher concentrations of either anti-Env glycoprotein (gp) 41 antibodies or recombinant soluble human CD4 compared with Deltanef HIV-1. This appeared to be the result of a Nef-induced increase of virion incorporation of both gp41 (transmembrane (TM)) and surface gp120 Env products likely originating from enhanced steady-state levels of cell membrane-associated Env products. This, in turn, seemed to be the consequence of a reduced retention of the Env precursor. Most interesting, we found that both the Nef-directed increase of Env membrane expression and the Nef-induced enhancement of HIV-1 infectivity relied on the presence of the intracytoplasmic domain of TM, supporting the hypothesis of a functional correlation between these effects. Mutagenesis studies allowed us to establish that the two leucine residues at the TM C terminus, which are part of a sorting motif involved in the control of Env membrane expression, and the 181-210-residue Nef C-terminal region were critically involved in the Nef/Env functional interaction. In conclusion, we propose that Nef increases the infectivity of HIV-1 at least in part by enhancing the amounts of Env products incorporated into virus particles.
Databáze: OpenAIRE