title: The cytoplasmic domain of the HIV-1 glycoprotein gp41 induces NF-κB activation through TGF-β-activated kinase 1.
abstract: The human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV and SIV) primarily infect lymphocytes, which must be activated for efficient viral replication. We show that the cytoplasmic domain of the transmembrane glycoprotein gp41 (gp41CD) of both HIV-1 and SIV induces activation of NF-κB, a cellular factor important for proviral genome transcription and lymphocyte activation. This NF-κB activating property localized to a region 12-25 (SIV) or 59-70 (HIV-1) residues from the gp41 membrane-spanning domain. An siRNA-based screen of 42 key NF-κB regulators revealed that gp41CD-mediated activation occurs through the canonical NF-κB pathway via TGF-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1). TAK1 activity was required for gp41CD-mediated NF-κB activation, and HIV-1-derived gp41CD physically interacted with TAK1 through the same region required for NF-κB activation. Importantly, an NF-κB activation-deficient HIV-1 mutant exhibited increased dependence on cellular activation for replication. These findings demonstrate an evolutionarily conserved role for gp41CD in activating NF-κB to promote infection.
authors.affiliation: New England Primate Research Center, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, MA 01772-9102, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Postler
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Desrosiers
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D002460:Cell Line; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; C481053:TAB3 protein, human; C514787:gp41 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1