Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

vpr is an accessory gene of human immunodeficiency virus I (HIV-I). Although unnecessary for viral replication in T cell lines, growing evidence suggests that it is essential for virus replication in monocytes/macrophages and for replication in vivo. We expressed HIV-I vpr in Escherichia coli and purified Vpr by affinity chromatography. In a coprecipitation assay, the purified Vpr interacted specifically with a cellular protein designated as Vpr-interacting protein, or RIP. Mutational analysis suggested that this interaction required a domain rich in leucine/isoleucine residues and highly conserved between HIV-I and SIVmac Vprs. During transient expression in mammalian cells, HIV-I Vpr was localized in the nucleus. However, mutational analysis failed to identify in Vpr a typical nuclear localization signal rich in basic amino acid residues. Instead, Vpr nuclear localization seemed to correlate with Vpr interaction with RIP. Mutations in the C-terminal 20-amino acid region containing a cryptic nuclear localization signal did not abolish Vpr nuclear localization or interaction with RIP, whereas point mutations in the leucine/isoleucine-rich domain abolished Vpr interaction with RIP and rendered Vpr unstable during transient expression. These results suggest that RIP may be involved in Vpr function.
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PMID:Biochemical mechanism of HIV-I Vpr function. Specific interaction with a cellular protein. 819 3

The vpr gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) encodes a 96-amino-acid 14-kDa protein (viral protein R [Vpr]), which is produced late in the viral life cycle and is incorporated into the virion. Although Vpr is not required for viral replication in transformed cell lines and primary T lymphocytes, it is essential for productive infection of macrophages and monocytes and appears to be important for pathogenesis in vivo. To establish the role of Vpr in HIV-1 replication and pathogenesis, we have isolated cellular proteins with which Vpr interacts. By using the yeast two-hybrid system, Lys-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) was identified as a Vpr-interacting protein. The interaction between Vpr and LysRS was characterized both in vitro and in vivo, and the domains of Vpr required for the interaction were defined. In the presence of Vpr, LysRS-mediated amino-acylation of tRNA(Lys) is inhibited. Since tRNA(Lys) is the primer for reverse transcription of the HIV-1 genome, this suggests that the interaction between Vpr and LysRS may influence the initiation of HIV-1 reverse transcription.
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PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viral protein R (Vpr) interacts with Lys-tRNA synthetase: implications for priming of HIV-1 reverse transcription. 952 26