title: Upregulation of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 antisense transcription by the viral tax protein.
abstract: Several studies have recently demonstrated the existence of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) antisense transcripts, which allow the synthesis of the newly described HBZ protein. Although previous reports have been aimed at understanding the potential role of the HBZ protein in HTLV-1 pathogenesis, little is known as to how this viral gene is regulated. Here, using our K30-3'asLuc reporter construct, we show that the viral Tax protein upregulates antisense transcription through its action on the TRE sequences located in the 3' long terminal repeat. Generation of stable clones in 293T cells demonstrated that Tax-induced HBZ expression is importantly influenced by the integration site in the host genome. The cellular DNA context could thus affect the level of HBZ mRNA expression in infected cells.
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Montréal, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Centre de recherche BioMed, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Marilène
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halin
authors.forename: Amandine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lemasson
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mesnard
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barbeau
mesh_terms: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002460:Cell Line; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000502:physiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016372:RNA, Antisense / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D016356:Gene Products, tax; C479751:HBZ protein, human T-cell leukemia virus type I; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins