title: HIV-1 accessory proteins: VpR.
abstract: HIV-1 viral protein R (VpR) is a multifunctional protein that plays specific roles at multiple stages of the HIV-1 viral life cycle and affects anti-HIV functions of the immune cells. VpR is required for efficient viral replication in nondividing cells such as macrophages, and it promotes, to some extent, viral replication in the proliferating target CD4+ T cells. A number of specific activities that may contribute to these effects of VpR have been proposed. In this chapter, we describe two best characterized activities of VpR, nuclear import of the HIV-1 preintegration complex (PIC) and induction of cell cycle G2 arrest, focusing on the methods used for their demonstration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Richard Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Bukrinsky
mesh_terms: D021581:Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D004072:Digitonin / Q000378:metabolism; D059565:G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000166:cytology; D016662:Virus Integration; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514912:vpr protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D004072:Digitonin