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)

A gene encoding the human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) TAT protein was chemically synthesized and expressed in HeLa cells and in a cell-free system. To facilitate both the assembly of the synthetic gene and further mutagenesis and gene fusion studies, several unique restriction endonuclease cleavage sites were included in the coding sequence without altering the encoded protein sequence. The synthetic TAT coding sequence was fused to a translation start signal and placed under SV40 early transcriptional control. Co-transfection of the TAT-encoding synthetic gene together with a reporter gene (chloramphenical acetyl transferase or beta-galactosidase) linked to an HIV LTR confirmed that the synthetic gene product exhibits similar activity to TAT expressed from HIV genomic DNA in the transactivation of the LTR. TAT mRNA prepared by cell-free transcription of the synthetic TAT coding sequence was also shown to produce functional TAT following microinjection into HeLa-derived cells containing an integrated reporter gene with the HIV LTR linked to beta-galactosidase.
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PMID:Chemical synthesis and expression of a gene encoding HIV-1 TAT protein. 254

Replication of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) depends upon the viral TAT protein. TAT stimulates gene expression via a target response sequence (TAR) located within the HIV-1 LTR. As TAR is located in the transcribed region it could act as a signal in either the DNA, the RNA, or both. To test whether TAT acts on transcription and/or posttranscriptionally, we produced TAT in yeast and monitored its activity after microinjection into the nucleus or cytoplasm of Xenopus oocytes. The TAT protein stimulated TAR-dependent expression, but this activation was not inhibited by transcriptional inhibitors. Furthermore, TAR-containing RNA, produced in vitro, was "activated" by TAT after coinjection into oocytes. This activation only occurred, however, when the RNA was injected into the nucleus and not into the cytoplasm. Our data indicate, therefore, that in the Xenopus system TAT acts on presynthesized RNA and that the nucleus is involved in this action.
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PMID:HIV-1 TAT "activates" presynthesized RNA in the nucleus. 254 79

Mounting experimental evidence suggests that the TAT protein, released from human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-infected inflammatory cells, may genetically reprogram targeted cells within a localized environment to develop highly vascularized tumors of mesenchymal origin. The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family of polypeptides has gained general acceptance as initiators of angiogenesis and functions as potent mitogens for mesoderm-derived cells. To evaluate a potential biological relationship between TAT and acidic FGF (FGF-1), primary murine embryonic fibroblasts either were transfected with the viral transactivator or were transduced (retrovirally mediated) with a secreted, chimeric form of the human polypeptide growth factor, human stomach tumor/Kaposi's sarcoma (hst/KS)FGF-1. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, in situ immunohistochemical, heparin affinity, DNA synthesis, and transient transfection techniques were used to confirm expression, localization, and functionality of the transgenes. Both transfected and transduced cells constitutively expressing either TAT or (hst/KS)FGF-1 adopted a transformed phenotype, maintained aggressive growth behavior, and demonstrated both induction of FGF-specific phosphotyrosyl proteins and nuclear association of FGF-1 and FGF-1 receptor. Increased levels of endogenous, murine FGF-1 mRNA (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) and protein (immunoblot analysis) were apparent in both (hst/KS)FGF-1- and TAT-transformed cells. Medium conditioned by (hst/KS)FGF-1-transduced cells contained steady-state levels of biologically active FGF-1 which exhibited a representative molecular weight. Limited sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis of the conditioned medium from TAT-transformed cells demonstrated the appearance of FGF-1 as latent, high molecular weight complexes requiring reducing agents to activate full biological activity. Collectively, these results suggest that TAT induces the expression and secretion of FGF-1, which may be potentially relevant to the pathophysiological development of AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma.
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PMID:The HIV-1 TAT protein induces the expression and extracellular appearance of acidic fibroblast growth factor. 754 39

Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV1) infection is associated with severe psoriasis, B cell lymphoma, and Kaposi's sarcoma. A deregulated production of interleukin 6 (IL-6) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of these diseases. The molecular mechanisms underlying the abnormal IL-6 secretion of HIV1-infected cells may include transactivation of the IL-6 gene by HIV1. To test this hypothesis, we used the pIL6Pr-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) plasmid, an IL-6 promoter-CAT construct, as a target of the transactivating function of the HIV1 TAT protein. By cotransfecting the pIL6Pr-CAT and the tat-expressing pSVT8 plasmid in MC3 B-lymphoblastoid or in HeLa epithelial cells, we observed that TAT transactivates the human IL-6 promoter. These results were confirmed when pIL6Pr-CAT was transfected in MC3 or HeLa cells that constitutively expressed the tat gene in a sense (pSVT8 cells) or antisense (pSVT10 cells) orientation. 5' deletion plasmids of pIL6Pr-CAT, in which regions at -658, -287, and -172 were inserted 5' to the cat gene, were transiently transfected in pSVT10 and pSVT8 cells and showed that TAT-induced activation of the IL-6 promoter required a minimal region located between -287 and -54 bp. Moreover, experiments with plasmids carrying the -658, -287, and -172 bp regions of the IL-6 promoter inserted downstream to a TAR-deleted HIV1-LTR identified the sequence of -172 to -54 as the minimal region of the IL-6 promoter required for TAT to transactivate the TAR-deleted HIV1-LTR. By DNA-protein binding experiments, tat-transfected cells expressed a consistent increase in kappa B and nuclear factor (NF)-IL-6 binding activity. Accordingly, the pDRCAT and IL-1REK9CAT, carrying tandem repeats of NF-kappa B or NF-IL6 binding motifs, respectively, were activated in TAT-expressing cells. The biological relevance of the TAT-induced IL-6 secretion was addressed by generating 7TD1 cells, an IL-6-dependent mouse cell line, stably expressing the tat gene. These tat-positive cells expressed the endogenous IL-6 gene, secreted high amounts of murine IL-6, and grew efficiently in the absence of exogenous IL-6. Moreover, the tat-positive 7TD1 cells sustained the growth of parental 7TD1 cells and showed a dramatic increase in their tumorigenic potency. These results suggest that TAT protein may play a role in the pathogenesis of some HIV1-associated diseases by modulating the expression of host cellular genes.
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PMID:The expression of the interleukin 6 gene is induced by the human immunodeficiency virus 1 TAT protein. 811 88

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) gene expression is activated by the viral TAT protein that interacts with an RNA sequence, TAR, located at the 5' end of all viral mRNAs. TAT functions primarily as a transcriptional activator in mammalian cells. However, in Xenopus oocytes TAT functions primarily as a translational activator. TAR is an RNA structure comprising a partially base-paired stem, a tripyrimidine bulge in the upper stem, and an unpaired six-nucleotide loop. In vitro, TAT binds directly to the bulge with no requirement for the loop. In vivo, however, mutations in the loop abolish TAT activation of transcription and translation, implying a requirement for TAR-binding cellular factors. We now provide genetic evidence for the presence of two TAR-specific cellular factors in Xenopus oocytes. These factors display independent and mutually exclusive interactions with either the loop or the bulge region of TAR. Furthermore, by using in vivo RNA competition assays we show that the cellular factors regulate the accessibility of the TAT binding site. The fact that Xenopus oocytes contain factors that specifically interact with a human viral RNA sequence might indicate that the TAT/TAR interaction is subverting a conserved pathway in the cell.
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PMID:HIV-1 TAR RNA-binding proteins control TAT activation of translation in Xenopus oocytes. 842 67

TAT protein is an essential regulatory protein of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Inhibition of TAT activity blocks the virus cycle, and a drug that blocks TAT is one of the possibilities to cure AIDS. Circular dichroism (CD) was measured for TAT peptides covering the TAT sequence with overlaps. The CD spectrum of each peptide was measured in different solvents to evaluate the ability of each TAT region to form different secondary structures. The most variation or conformational heterogeneity is observed with the two regions adjacent to the TAT basic region. CD data show that the basic region can adopt an extended structure in a full TAT protein, which is not the case for the isolated peptide. TAT sequences from the different HIV-1 isolates were analyzed, and the results showed that the sequences could be gathered into six groups. Molecular modeling was done on the various isolates based on a TAT structure from two-dimensional NMR. After minimization and dynamic steps, the modeled three-dimensional structures were compared. The results showed structural variations of the TAT protein as a function of the HIV-1 isolates. These structural variations were mainly in the two regions adjacent to the basic region, confirming the conformational heterogeneity indicated by the CD measurements. Furthermore, Chou-Fasman analysis shows significant changes in propensities for each secondary structure only for regions III and V. This conformational heterogeneity should be essential for TAT activity and points out that regions III and V are a poor potential target to design a TAT ligand. We propose a target involving TAT structurally conserved regions, accessible whatever the size of the TAT C terminus.
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PMID:Conformational heterogeneity in two regions of TAT results in structural variations of this protein as a function of HIV-1 isolates. 879 35

The androgen receptor (AR) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. Recent work in this field has been focused upon defining the mechanisms of transcriptional control exacted by members of this superfamily. Using a COOH-terminal region of the human AR in a yeast two-hybrid screen, we have identified Tip60 as an AR-interacting protein. In this report, we show that Tip60, which was originally identified as a coactivator for the human immunodeficiency virus TAT protein, can enhance AR-mediated transactivation in a ligand-dependent manner in LNCaP and COS-1 cell lines. In addition, our experiments show that Tip60 can also enhance transactivation through the estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in a ligand-dependent manner; thus identifying Tip60 as a nuclear hormone receptor coactivator. Our studies also demonstrate that Tip60 co-immunoprecipitates with the full-length AR in vitro and that, in our system, Tip60 enhances transactivation to levels observed with the coactivators steroid receptor coactivator 1, p300, and CREB-binding protein. The importance of such proteins in enhancing nuclear hormone receptor-mediated transcriptional activation is widely accepted, and this work suggests that Tip60 may have an equally important role to play.
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PMID:Tip60 is a nuclear hormone receptor coactivator. 1036 96

Delivery of therapeutic proteins into tissues and across the blood-brain barrier is severely limited by the size and biochemical properties of the proteins. Here it is shown that intraperitoneal injection of the 120-kilodalton beta-galactosidase protein, fused to the protein transduction domain from the human immunodeficiency virus TAT protein, results in delivery of the biologically active fusion protein to all tissues in mice, including the brain. These results open new possibilities for direct delivery of proteins into patients in the context of protein therapy, as well as for epigenetic experimentation with model organisms.
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PMID:In vivo protein transduction: delivery of a biologically active protein into the mouse. 1049 25

The development of peptide drugs and therapeutic proteins is limited by the poor permeability and the selectivity of the cell membrane. There is a growing effort to circumvent these problems by designing strategies to deliver full-length proteins into a large number of cells. A series of small protein domains, termed protein transduction domains (PTDs), have been shown to cross biological membranes efficiently and independently of transporters or specific receptors, and to promote the delivery of peptides and proteins into cells. TAT protein from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) is able to deliver biologically active proteins in vivo and has been shown to be of considerable interest for protein therapeutics. Similarly, the third alpha-helix of Antennapedia homeodomain, and VP22 protein from herpes simplex virus promote the delivery of covalently linked peptides or proteins into cells. However, these PTD vectors display a certain number of limitations in that they all require crosslinking to the target peptide or protein. Moreover, protein transduction using PTD-TAT fusion protein systems may require denaturation of the protein before delivery to increase the accessibility of the TAT-PTD domain. This requirement introduces an additional delay between the time of delivery and intracellular activation of the protein. In this report, we propose a new strategy for protein delivery based on a short amphipathic peptide carrier, Pep-1. This peptide carrier is able to efficiently deliver a variety of peptides and proteins into several cell lines in a fully biologically active form, without the need for prior chemical covalent coupling or denaturation steps. In addition, this peptide carrier presents several advantages for protein therapy, including stability in physiological buffer, lack of toxicity, and lack of sensitivity to serum. Pep-1 technology should be extremely useful for targeting specific protein-protein interactions in living cells and for screening novel therapeutic proteins.
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PMID:A peptide carrier for the delivery of biologically active proteins into mammalian cells. 1173 88

The surface-functionalization of shell cross-linked (SCK) nanoparticles with the oligomeric peptide sequence YGRKKRRQRRR, the protein transduction domain (PTD) from the human immunodeficiency virus TAT protein, is described, and the cell binding interactions these nanobioconjugates exhibit are demonstrated. A convergent synthetic strategy was employed, whereby the SCK nanoparticles and the PTD were prepared independently and then coupled together during immobilization of the PTD component on a solid support. The SCK nanoparticles were prepared by the micellization of amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(epsilon-caprolactone-b-acrylic acid), followed by amidation-based cross-linking of the acrylic acid residues located within the micellar corona. The PTD sequence was constructed upon a solid support, from C-terminus to N-terminus, followed by extension with four glycine residues, leaving the amino chain end for subsequent coupling with remaining acrylic acid functionalities present on the surface of the SCK. Finally, cleavage from the solid support was performed, which also facilitated deprotection of the peptide side chain functionalities as well as hydrolysis of the poly(epsilon-caprolactone) segments composing the SCK core domain, to yield PTD-derivatized nanocage structures (PTD-nanocage). Covalent labeling of the SCK precursor with fluorescein-5-thiosemicarbazide provided fluorescently tagged PTD-nanocage nanobioconjugates to allow for their detection by fluorescence microscopy. The fluorescent PTD-nanocage bioconjugates were found to interact with CHO cells and HeLa cells, whereas the analogous structure lacking the PTD component did not. CHO cells bound with fluorescent PTD-nanocage bioconjugates were analyzed using flow cytometry and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Fluorescence confocal microscopy of isolated bioconjugate-bound CHO cells indicated that the bioconjugated nanoparticles were primarily located near the cell periphery; however, transduction of the nanoparticle into the cells also occurred.
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PMID:Nanostructured materials designed for cell binding and transduction. 1174 93


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