Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0021051 (immunodeficiency)
 71,517 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tat stimulates human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1), transcription elongation by recruitment of the human transcription elongation factor P-TEFb, consisting of CDK9 and cyclin T1, to the TAR RNA structure. It has been demonstrated further that CDK9 phosphorylation is required for high affinity binding of Tat/P-TEFb to the TAR RNA structure and that the state of P-TEFb phosphorylation may regulate Tat transactivation. We now demonstrate that CDK9 phosphorylation is uniquely regulated in the HIV-1 preinitiation and elongation complexes. The presence of TFIIH in the HIV-1 preinitiation complex inhibits CDK9 phosphorylation. As TFIIH is released from the elongation complex between +14 and +36, CDK9 phosphorylation is observed. In contrast to the activity in the "soluble" complex, phosphorylation of CDK9 is increased by the presence of Tat in the transcription complexes. Consistent with these observations, we have demonstrated that purified TFIIH directly inhibits CDK9 autophosphorylation. By using recombinant TFIIH subcomplexes, our results suggest that the XPB subunit of TFIIH is responsible for this inhibition of CDK9 phosphorylation. Interestingly, our results further suggest that the phosphorylated form of CDK9 is the active kinase for RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain phosphorylation.
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PMID:TFIIH inhibits CDK9 phosphorylation during human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transcription. 1157 68

Combinations of cytokines are known to reactivate transcription and replication of latent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) proviruses in resting CD4(+) T lymphocytes isolated from infected individuals. Transcription of the HIV-1 provirus by RNA polymerase II is strongly stimulated by the viral Tat protein. Tat function is mediated by a cellular protein kinase known as TAK (cyclin T1/P-TEFb) that is composed of Cdk9 and cyclin T1. We have found that treatment of peripheral blood lymphocytes and purified resting CD4(+) T lymphocytes with the combination of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha resulted in an increase in Cdk9 and cyclin T1 protein levels and an increase in TAK enzymatic activity. The cytokine induction of TAK in resting CD4(+) T lymphocytes did not appear to require proliferation of lymphocytes. These results suggest that induction of TAK by cytokines secreted in the microenvironment of lymphoid tissue may be involved in the reactivation of HIV-1 in CD4(+) T lymphocytes harboring a latent provirus.
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PMID:Induction of TAK (cyclin T1/P-TEFb) in purified resting CD4(+) T lymphocytes by combination of cytokines. 1168 14

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat protein activates transcription elongation by stimulating the Tat-activated kinase (TAK/p-TEFb), a protein kinase composed of CDK9 and its cyclin partner, cyclin T1. CDK9 is able to hyperphosphorylate the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the large subunit of RNA polymerase during elongation. In addition to TAK, the transcription elongation factor Spt5 is required for the efficient activation of transcriptional elongation by Tat. To study the role of Spt5 in HIV transcription in more detail, we have developed a three-stage Tat-dependent transcription assay that permits the isolation of active preinitiation complexes, early-stage elongation complexes, and Tat-activated elongation complexes. Spt5 is recruited in the transcription complex shortly after initiation. After recruitment of Tat during elongation through the transactivation response element RNA, CDK9 is activated and induces hyperphosphorylation of Spt5 in parallel to the hyperphosphorylation of the CTD of RNA polymerase II. However, immunodepletion experiments demonstrate that Spt5 is not required for Tat-dependent activation of the kinase. Chase experiments using the Spt5-depleted extracts demonstrate that Spt5 is not required for early elongation. However, Spt5 plays an important role in late elongation by preventing the premature dissociation of RNA from the transcription complex at terminator sequences and reducing the amount of polymerase pausing at arrest sites, including bent DNA sequences. This novel biochemical function of Spt5 is analogous to the function of NusG, an elongation factor found in Escherichia coli that enhances RNA polymerase stability on templates and shows sequence similarity to Spt5.
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PMID:Spt5 cooperates with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat by preventing premature RNA release at terminator sequences. 1180

When targeted to sequences adjacent to a TATA element, pyrrole-imidazole (Py-Im) polyamides inhibit the DNA binding activity of TATA box binding protein (TBP) and basal transcription by RNA polymerase II. In the present study, we scanned the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 promoter for polyamide inhibition of TBP binding and transcription using a series of DNA constructs in which a polyamide binding site was placed at various distances from the TATA box. Polyamide interference with either TBP-DNA or TFIID-TFIIA-DNA contacts both upstream and downstream of the TATA element resulted in inhibition of transcription. Our results define important protein-DNA interactions outside of the TATA element and suggest that transcription inhibition of selected gene promoters can be achieved with polyamides that target unique sequences within these promoters at a distance from the TATA element. Our studies also demonstrate the utility of the Py-Im polyamides for discovery of functionally important protein-DNA contacts involved in transcription.
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PMID:Promoter scanning for transcription inhibition with DNA-binding polyamides. 1186 52

Replication of human immunodeficiency virus requires Tat protein which activates elongation of RNA polymerase II transcription at the HIV-1 promoter through interaction with the cyclin T1 (CycT1) subunit of the positive transcription elongation factor complex (P-TEFb). Tat binds directly through its transactivation domain to the CycT1 subunit of the P-TEFb and induces loop sequence specific binding of the P-TEFb onto nascent HIV-1 TAR RNA. By using a gel electrophoresis method and a comprehensive set of TAR loop mutants, we have identified the sequence and structural determinants for high-affinity CycT1-Tat-TAR ternary complex formation. Our results show that CycT1 and Tat binding to TAR RNA is highly cooperative, and a capacity of 85%, a Hill coefficient of 2.7, and a dissociation constant (K(D)) of 2.45 nM were observed. These results indicate that there are three binding sites on TAR RNA. CycT1 does not bind TAR RNA in the absence of Tat, and Tat binding to TAR, while detectable, is very inefficient in the absence of CycT1. It is conceivable that the CycT1-Tat heterodimer directly binds to TAR RNA in the U-rich RNA bulge region and this binding facilitates the interactions of the CycT1-Tat heterodimer at the other two sites in the RNA loop region. On the basis of our results, we suggest a model where CycT1 interacts with Tat protein and positions the protein complex to make contacts with the G34 region of the loop sequence; G34 is critical for CycT1-Tat binding and forms a C30.G34 base pair. Two functional groups, O6 and N7, at nucleotide positions 32 and 34 in the TAR loop are essential for CycT1-Tat interactions with TAR RNA. The identity of two nucleotides, U31 and G33, is not critical, but they contribute to the stabilization of the RNA-protein complex. The presence of a single-nucleotide bulge of A35 or C35 is essential for distortion of the backbone RNA structure as well as the accessibility of functional groups in the major groove of the double-helical region. CycT1-Tat interaction with TAR RNA represents another example of the flexibility and complexity of RNA structure involved in protein recognition.
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PMID:Specific HIV-1 TAR RNA loop sequence and functional groups are required for human cyclin T1-Tat-TAR ternary complex formation. 1200 1

Stimulation of transcriptional elongation by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein is mediated by CDK9, a kinase that phosphorylates the RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD). In order to obtain direct evidence that this phosphorylation event can alter RNA polymerase processivity, we prepared transcription elongation complexes that were arrested by the lac repressor. The CTD was then dephosphorylated by treatment with protein phosphatase 1. The dephosphorylated transcription complexes were able to resume the transcription elongation when IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside) and nucleotides were added to the reaction. Under these chase conditions, efficient rephosphorylation of the CTD was observed in complexes containing the Tat protein but not in transcription complexes prepared in the absence of Tat protein. Immunoblots and kinase assays with synthetic peptides showed that Tat activated CDK9 directly since the enzyme and its cyclin partner, cyclin T1, were present at equivalent levels in transcription complexes prepared in the presence or absence of Tat. Chase experiments with the dephosphorylated elongation transcription complexes were performed in the presence of the CDK9 kinase inhibitor DRB (5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-benzimidazole). Under these conditions there was no rephosphorylation of the CTD during elongation, and transcription through either a stem-loop terminator or bent DNA arrest sequence was strongly inhibited. In experiments in which the CTD was phosphorylated prior to elongation, the amount of readthrough of the terminator sequences was proportional to the extent of the CTD modification. The change in processivity is due to CTD phosphorylation alone, since even after the removal of Spt5, the second substrate for CDK9, RNA polymerase elongation is enhanced by Tat-activated CDK9 activity. We conclude that phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II CTD by CDK9 enhances transcription elongation directly.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain by CDK9 is directly responsible for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat-activated transcriptional elongation. 1205 71

Reverse transcription involves the conversion of viral genomic RNAinto proviral double-stranded DNA that integrates into the host cell genome. Cellular DNA polymerases replicate the integrated viral DNA and RNA polymerase II transcribes the proviral DNA into RNA genomes that are packaged into virions. Although mutations can be introduced at any of these replication steps, reverse transcriptase (RT) errors play a major role in retroviral mutation. This review summarizes our current knowledge on fidelity of reverse transcriptases. Estimates of retroviral mutation rates or fidelity of retroviral RTs are discussed in the context of the different techniques used for this purpose (i.e., retroviral vectors replicated in culture, misinsertion and mispair extension fidelity assay, etc.). In vitro fidelity assays provide information on the RT's accuracy during the elongation reaction of DNA synthesis. In addition, other steps such as initiation of reverse transcription, or strand transfer, and factors including viral proteins such as Vpr [in the case of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)] have been shown to influence fidelity. A comprehensive description of the effect of amino acid substitutions on the fidelity of HIV-1 RT is presented. Published data point to certain dNTP-binding residues, as well as to various amino acids involved in interactions with the template or the primer strand, and to residues in the minor groove-binding track as major components of the fidelity center of retroviral RTs. Implications of these studies include the design of novel therapeutic strategies leading to virus extinction, by increasing the viral mutation rate beyond a tolerable threshold.
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PMID:Molecular basis of fidelity of DNA synthesis and nucleotide specificity of retroviral reverse transcriptases. 1210 62

Human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1), Tat protein activates viral gene expression through promoting transcriptional elongation by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). In this process Tat enhances phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAPII by activating cell cycle-dependent kinases (CDKs) associated with general transcription factors of the promoter complex, specifically CDK7 and CDK9. We reported a Tat-associated T-cell-derived kinase, which contained CDK2. Here, we provide further evidence that CDK2 is involved in Tat-mediated CTD phosphorylation and in HIV-1 transcription in vitro. Tat-mediated CTD phosphorylation by CDK2 required cysteine 22 in the activation domain of Tat and amino acids 42-72 of Tat. CDK2 phosphorylated Tat itself, apparently by forming dynamic contacts with amino acids 15-24 and 36-49 of Tat. Also, amino acids 24-36 and 45-72 of Tat interacted with CTD. CDK2 associated with RNAPII and was found in elongation complexes assembled on HIV-1 long-terminal repeat template. Recombinant CDK2/cyclin E stimulated Tat-dependent HIV-1 transcription in reconstituted transcription assay. Immunodepletion of CDK2/cyclin E in HeLa nuclear extract blocked Tat-dependent transcription. We suggest that CDK2 is part of a transcription complex that is required for Tat-dependent transcription and that interaction of Tat with CTD and a dynamic association of Tat with CDK2/cyclin E stimulated CTD phosphorylation by CDK2.
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PMID:HIV-1 Tat interaction with RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain (CTD) and a dynamic association with CDK2 induce CTD phosphorylation and transcription from HIV-1 promoter. 1211 99

Transcriptional activation of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter element is regulated by the essential viral Tat protein that binds to the viral TAR RNA target and recruits a positive transcription elongation complex (P-TEFb). We have used a stepwise transcription approach and a highly sensitive assay to determine the dynamics of interactions between HIV-1 Tat and the transcription complexes actively engaged in elongation. Our results demonstrate that Tat protein associates with RNA polymerase II complexes during early transcription elongation after the promoter clearance and before the synthesis of full-length TAR RNA transcript. This interaction of Tat with RNA polymerase II elongation complexes is P-TEFb-independent. Our results also show that there are two Tat binding sites on each transcription elongation complex; one is located on TAR RNA and the other one on RNA polymerase II near the exit site for nascent mRNA transcripts. These findings suggest that two Tat molecules are involved in performing various functions during a single round of HIV-1 mRNA synthesis.
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PMID:A bimolecular mechanism of HIV-1 Tat protein interaction with RNA polymerase II transcription elongation complexes. 1212 15

Promoter and enhancer elements can influence alternative splicing, but the basis for this phenomenon is not well understood. Here we investigated how different transcriptional activators affect the decision between inclusion and exclusion (skipping) of the fibronectin EDI exon. A mutant of the acidic VP16 activation domain called SW6 that preferentially inhibits polymerase II (pol II) elongation caused a reduction in EDI exon skipping. Exon skipping was fully restored in the presence of the SW6 mutant by either the SV40 enhancer in cis or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Tat in trans, both of which specifically stimulate pol II elongation. HIV Tat also cooperated with the Sp1 and CTF activation domains to enhance transcript elongation and EDI skipping. The extent of exon skipping correlated with the efficiency with which pol II transcripts reach the 3' end of the gene but not with the overall fold increase in transcript levels caused by different activators. The ability of activators to enhance elongation by RNA polymerase II therefore correlates with their ability to enhance exon skipping. Consistent with this observation, the elongation inhibitor dichlororibofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB) enhanced EDI inclusion. Conversely, the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A that is thought to stimulate elongation caused a modest inhibition of EDI inclusion. Together our results support a kinetic coupling model in which the rate of transcript elongation determines the outcome of two competing splicing reactions that occur co-transcriptionally. Rapid, highly processive transcription favors EDI exon skipping, whereas slower, less processive transcription favors inclusion.
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PMID:Transcriptional activators differ in their abilities to control alternative splicing. 1222 Nov 5


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