title: Genetic variance in the HIV-1 founder virus Vpr affects its ability to induce cell cycle G₂arrest and cell apoptosis.
abstract: In the event of acute infection, only a few HIV-1 viral variants can establish the initial productive clinical infection, and these viral variants are known as transmitted/founder viruses (T/F viruses). As one of the accessory proteins of HIV-1, viral protein R (Vpr) plays an important role in viral replication. Therefore, the characterization of T/F virus Vpr is beneficial to understand how virus replicates in a new host. In this study, flow cytometry was used to analyze the effect of G₂arrest and cell apoptosis induced by the T/F virus Vpr and the chronic strain MJ4 Vpr. The results showed that the ability of T/F virus ZM246 Vpr and ZM247 Vpr inducing G₂arrest and cell apoptosis are more potent than the MJ4 Vpr. The comparison of protein sequences indicated that the amino acids of 77, 85 and 94 contain high freqency mutations, suggesting that these sites may be involved in inducing G₂arrest and cell apoptosis. Taken together, our work suggests that in acute infections, T/F viruses increase the capacity of G₂arrest and cell apoptosis and promote viral replication and transmission in a new host by Vpr genetic mutation.
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Food Science, College of Arts & Science of Beijing Union University, Beijing 100192, China; 2. Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical School, Beijing 100050, China;
authors.forename: Jian-yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical School, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Ji-wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical School, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Ze-yun
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical School, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Jin-ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, College of Arts & Science of Beijing Union University, Beijing 100192, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical School, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cen
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017209:Apoptosis; D002453:Cell Cycle; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514912:vpr protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1