title: HIV immune evasion disruption of antigen presentation by the HIV Nef protein.
abstract: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Nef protein is necessary for high viral loads and for timely progression to AIDS. Nef plays a number of roles, but its effect on antigen presentation and immune evasion are among the best characterized. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) recognize and lyse virally infected cells by detecting viral antigens in complex with host major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules on the infected cell surface. The HIV Nef protein disrupts antigen presentation at the cell surface by interfering with the normal trafficking pathway of MHC-I and thus reduces CTL recognition and lysis of infected cells. The molecular mechanism by which Nef causes MHC-I downmodulation is becoming more clear, but some questions remain. A better understanding of how Nef disrupts antigen presentation may lead to the development of drugs that enhance the ability of the anti-HIV CTLs to control HIV disease.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Wonderlich
authors.forename: Jolie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D020727:ADP-Ribosylation Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D015398:Signal Transduction; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D020727:ADP-Ribosylation Factors