HIV/AIDS Genetics & Genomics: Chromosome 2 carries a gene required for production of infectious HIV-1

AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, May 22, 2006
Staff Medical Writers

According to recent research from the United States, "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) replicates only in certain primate cells. In murine cells expressing cyclin T1, a post-transcriptional block exists such that small amounts of capsid and little infectious virus are released. This block is relieved in part by fusion with human cells."

"Here we have tested a panel of mouse-human somatic cell hybrids for production of infectious virus. Only those containing human chromosome 2 were permissive, which correlated with capsid production.

"The effect was specific to HIV in that release of murine leukemia virus was minimally affected by the presence of chromosome 2," wrote A.K. Coskun and colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The authors continued, "Although expression of Vpu markedly increased capsid production in the absence of chromosome 2, it did not result in a corresponding increase in infectious HIV.

"The presence of chromosome 2 did not have consistent effects on the amount of unspliced viral RNA, whereas the amount of cell-associated Gag p55 was increased a few-fold."

"These results suggest that processing of HIV Gag can be corrected by one or more genes present on human chromosome 2 to allow production of infectious HIV from murine cells," Coskun concluded.

Coskun and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Virology (Human chromosome 2 carries a gene required for production of infectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1. J Virol. 2006 Apr;80(7):3406-15).

For additional information, contact R.E. Sutton, Baylor College of Medicine, Dept. Molecular Virology & Microbiology, 1 Baylor Pl, Rm 917D, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Virology is: American Society Microbiology, 1752 N St. NW, Washington, DC 20036-2904, USA.

Keywords: Houston, Texas, United States, HIV/AIDS, Chromosome 2, Infectious Virus, HIV-1 Gag Processing, Mouse-Human Somatic Cell Hybrid.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

Reference

Coskun AK, van Maanen M, Nguyen V, et al., "Human chromosome 2 carries a gene required for production of infectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1.", J Virol. 2006 Apr;80(7):3406-15.

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