Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:227 (abstract no. Tu.A.490) Trono D; The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA. Fax: 619-534-7760. E-mail: didier_trono@qm.salk.edu.
The HIV-1 Nef protein is crucial for high level viral replication in vivo and for AIDS pathogenesis. In vitro, Nef has been shown i) to downregulate the cell surface expression of CD4 and, to a lesser extent, of MHC-1, ii) to stimulate proviral DNA synthesis, thereby enhancing viral replication, and iii) to alter cellular activation pathways. New results will be presented which tie Nef and an associated cellular serine kinase with the phosphorylation of a component of the HIV-1 nucleoprotein complex. The proposal will be made that this phenomenon underlies the observed effect of Nef on reverse transcription and, consequently, viral infectivity.
Keywords: AEGIS, Gene Products, nef, Virus Replication, HIV-1, Antigens, CD4, Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, In Vitro, virology, ICA11
