title: Transcomplementation of VIF- HIV-1 mutants in CEM cells suggests that VIF affects late steps of the viral life cycle.
abstract: The vif gene of HIV-1 has previously been claimed to be essential for the ability of cell-free virus preparations to infect cells. Here we report that the CEM T-cell-line, stably transfected with and expressing vif, supports the replication of vif- HIV-1 viruses to the same extent as wild-type HIV1. Cell entry and early replication stages are the same for vif- and vif+ HIV-1 passaged in CEM, as measured both by a PCR-based cell entry assay and by fusogenic potential. These findings indicate that vif does not affect viral infectivity on CEM cells, but seems to act at a later stage of virus replication/maturation. We also show that the VIF proteins of two different HIV-1 strains can transcomplement different vif- HIV-1 mutants.
authors.affiliation: Chester Beatty Laboratories, Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blanc
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patience
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spire
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D016341:Genes, vif / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*