Chimeric human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) virions containing HIV-2 or simian immunodeficiency virus Nef are resistant to cyclosporine treatment

The viral protein Nef and the cellular factor cyclophilin A are both required for full infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) virions. In contrast, HIV-2 and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) do not incorporate cyclophilin A into virions or need it for full infectivity. Since Nef and cyclophilin A appear to act in similar ways on postentry events, we determined whether chimeric HIV-1 virions that contained either HIV-2 or SIV Nef would have a direct effect on cyclophilin A dependence. Our results show that chimeric HIV-1 virions containing either HIV-2 or SIV Nef are resistant to treatment by cyclosporine and enhance the infectivity of virions with mutations in the cyclophilin A binding loop of Gag. Amino acids at the C terminus of HIV-2 and SIV are necessary for inducing cyclosporine resistance. However, transferring these amino acids to the C terminus of HIV-1 Nef is insufficient to induce cyclosporine resistance in HIV-1. These results suggest that HIV-2 and SIV Nef are able to compensate for the need for cyclophilin A for full infectivity and that amino acids present at the C termini of these proteins are important for this function.     

Evaluation of the functional involvement of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase in nuclear import of viral cDNA during acute infection

Nuclear import of viral cDNA is a critical step for establishing the proviral state of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The contribution of HIV-1 integrase (IN) to the nuclear import of viral cDNA is controversial, partly due to a lack of identification of its bona fide nuclear localization signal. In this study, to address this putative function of HIV-1 IN, the effects of mutations at key residues for viral cDNA recognition (PYNP at positions 142 to 145, K156, K159, and K160) were evaluated in the context of viral replication. During acute infection, some mutations (N144Q, PYNP>KL, and KKK>AAA) severely reduced viral gene expression to less than 1% the wild-type (WT) level. None of the mutations affected the synthesis of viral cDNA. Meanwhile, the levels of integrated viral cDNA produced by N144Q, PYNP>KL, and KKK>AAA mutants were severely reduced to less than 1% the WT level. Quantitative PCR analysis of viral cDNA in nuclei and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed that these mutations significantly reduced the level of viral cDNA accumulation in nuclei. Further analysis revealed that IN proteins carrying the N144Q, PYNP>KL, and KKK>AAA mutations showed severely reduced binding to viral cDNA but kept their karyophilic properties. Taken together, these results indicate that mutations that reduced the binding of IN to viral cDNA resulted in severe impairment of virus infectivity, most likely by affecting the nuclear import of viral cDNA that proceeds integration. These results suggest that HIV-1 IN may be one of the critical constituents for the efficient nuclear import of viral cDNA.     

Role of V3 independent domains on a dualtropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope gp120 in CCR5 coreceptor utilization and viral infectivity

The molecular mechanism of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) entry into cells involves specific interactions between the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120 and two target cell proteins, CD4 and either CCR5 or CXCR4 chemokine receptors. In order to delineate the functional role of HIV-1 gp120 subdomains of dualtropic strains in CCR5 coreceptor usage, we used a panel of chimeric viruses in which the V1/V2 and V3 domains of gp120 from the dualtropic HIV-1(KMT) isolate were introduced either alone or in combination into the T-tropic HIV-1(NL4-3) background. These chimeric constructs were employed in cell-cell fusion and cell-free virus infectivity assays using cell lines expressing CD4 and the CCR5 chemokine receptor. In both assays, the V3 domain of HIV-1(KMT) but not the V1/V2 domain proved to be the principal determinant of CCR5 coreceptor usage. However, in the cell-free viral infectivity assay although a chimeric virus with a combined V1/V2 and V3 domains of HIV-1(KMT) efficiently fused with coreceptor expressing cells, yet its infectivity was markedly diminished in CCR5 as well as CXCR4 expressing cells. Restoring a comparable level of infection of such chimeric virus required the C3-V5 domain from HIV-1(KMT) to be introduced. Our present findings confirmed that the V3 domain is the major determinant of fusion activity and cellular tropism, and demonstrated a dispensable role for the V1/V2 domain. In addition the C3-V5 domain appeared to play an important role in viral infectivity when the corresponding V1/V2 and V3 domains are present.