title: Comparison of Vif sequences from diverse geographical isolates of HIV type 1 and SIV(cpz) identifies substitutions common to subtype C isolates and extensive variation in a proposed nuclear transport inhibition signal.
abstract: We compared the Vif sequences from more than 100 group M and O strains of HIV-1 isolated from diverse geographical regions and various subtypes, in order to identify regions of high variability and those amino acid residues that were highly conserved or invariant. Our analysis found that there were 10 highly conserved domains with additional invariant residues located throughout the protein. Our analysis revealed that in the highly conserved amino-terminal domain, all subtype C isolates examined had a methionine-to-leucine substitution at position 8 and most subtype C isolates had an arginine-to-lysine substitution at position 17 of the protein. Our analysis revealed that the MAP kinase phosphorylation sites, and the cysteine residues at positions 114 and 133, were conserved in Vif sequences from group M, group O, and SIV cpz isolates. Our analysis also shows that the RKKR motif at positions 90--93, proposed as a nuclear transport inhibition signal (NTIS), was conserved neither in different geographical group M and O HIV-1 isolates nor in SIVcpz.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA. estephen@kumc.edu
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pacyniak
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCormick
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000235:genetics; D001692:Biological Transport; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D016346:Gene Products, vif / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D054298:Human Immunodeficiency Virus Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007930:Leucine / Q000235:genetics; D008239:Lysine / Q000235:genetics; D008715:Methionine / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D000086082:Viroporin Proteins
chemical_list: D001120:Arginine; D016346:Gene Products, vif; D054298:Human Immunodeficiency Virus Proteins; D007930:Leucine; D008239:Lysine; D008715:Methionine; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; D054320:vif Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514859:vpu protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D000086082:Viroporin Proteins