title: Identification of a nef allele that causes lymphocyte activation and acute disease in macaque monkeys.
abstract: Residues 17 and 18 in nef of SIVmac239 were changed from RQ to YE to create a translated sequence of SRPSGDLYERLLRARGETYGRLLGEVEDGYSQSP from residues 10-43. The YXXL motifs in this context match very well with consensus sequences for SH2 binding domains and are similar to ones present in nef of the acutely lethal pathogen SIVpbj14. The YE variant of SIVmac239, unlike SIVmac239 but like SIVpbj14, replicated well in resting peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures, caused extensive T lymphocyte activation, and produced an acute disease in rhesus and pigtailed monkeys characterized by severe diarrhea, rash, and extensive lymphoid proliferation in the gastrointestinal tract. The YEnef gene transformed NIH 3T3 cells in culture. Both 239nef and YEnef were found to associate with src in cotransfected COS cells, and both 60 kDa src and 34 kDa nef were phosphorylated at tyrosine in these cells. The extent of tyrosine phosphorylation of 239nef was considerably less than that of YEnef in these assays. These findings identify an important determinant of the SIVpbj14 phenotype, and they provide evidence of a role for nef in signal transduction and cellular activation.
authors.affiliation: New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772-9102, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Sasseville
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lackner
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Ilyinskii
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Desrosiers
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000235:genetics; D015693:Gene Products, nef / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D015754:Genes, nef; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000821:virology; D010641:Phenotype; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015693:Gene Products, nef; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins; C059580:transmembrane protein, Simian immunodeficiency virus; D014443:Tyrosine