title: Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest is conserved among primate lentiviruses.
abstract: We previously reported that expression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 strain NL4-3 (HIV-1(NL4-3))vpr causes cells to arrest in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. We examined the induction of cell cycle arrest by other HIV-1 isolates and by primary lentiviruses other than HIV-1. We demonstrate that the vpr genes from tissue culture-adapted or primary isolates of HIV-1 are capable of inducing G2 arrest. In addition, we demonstrate that induction of cell cycle arrest is a conserved function of members of two other groups of primate lentiviruses, HIV-2/simian immunodeficiency virus strain sm (SIVsm)/SIVmac and SIVagm. vpr from HIV-1, HIV-2, and SIVmac induced cell cycle arrest when transfected in human (HeLa) and monkey (CV-1) cells. vpx from HIV-2 and SIVmac did not induce detectable cell cycle arrest in either cell type, and SIVagm vpx was capable of inducing arrest in CV-1 but not HeLa cells. These results indicate that induction of cell cycle perturbation is a general property of lentiviruses that infect primates. The conservation of this viral function throughout evolution suggests that it plays a key role in virus-host relationships, and elucidation of its mechanism may reveal important clues about pathology induced by primary lentiviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Califonia 90059-1678, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Planelles
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jowett
authors.forename: Q X
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004279:DNA, Viral; D016195:G2 Phase; D016336:Gene Products, vpr / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015498:HIV-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D017958:Lentiviruses, Primate / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D016336:Gene Products, vpr; C074286:VPX protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 2; C513059:VPX protein, Simian immunodeficiency virus; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus