title: The cellular autophagy pathway modulates human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 replication.
abstract: Autophagy, a general homeostatic process for degradation of cytosolic proteins or organelles, has been reported to modulate the replication of many viruses. The role of autophagy in human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) replication has, however, been uncharacterized. Here, we report that HTLV-1 infection increases the accumulation of autophagosomes and that this accumulation increases HTLV-1 production. We found that the HTLV-1 Tax protein increases cellular autophagosome accumulation by acting to block the fusion of autophagosomes to lysosomes, preventing the degradation of the former by the latter. Interestingly, the inhibition of cellular autophagosome-lysosome fusion using bafilomycin A increased the stability of the Tax protein, suggesting that cellular degradation of Tax occurs in part through autophagy. Our current findings indicate that by interrupting the cell's autophagic process, Tax exerts a positive feedback on its own stability.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Virology Section, Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Sai-Wen
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chia-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Klase
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zane
authors.forename: Kuan-Teh
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Jeang
mesh_terms: D001343:Autophagy; D002460:Cell Line; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000378:metabolism*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D016356:Gene Products, tax; C514970:tax protein, Human T-lymphotrophic virus 1