title: HIV-1 Vpr protein activates the NF-κB pathway to promote G2/M cell cycle arrest.
abstract: Viral protein R (Vpr) plays an important role in the replication and pathogenesis of Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Some of the various functions attributed to Vpr, including the induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest, activating the NF-κB pathway, and promoting viral reverse transcription, might be interrelated. To test this hypothesis, a panel of Vpr mutants were investigated for their ability to induce G2/M arrest and to activate the NF-κB pathway. The results showed that the Vpr mutants that failed to activate NF-κB also lost the activity to induce G2/M arrest, which suggests that inducing G2/M arrest via Vpr depends at least partially on the activation of NF-κB. This latter possibility is supported by data showing that knocking down the key factors in the NF-κB pathway-p65, RelB, IKKα, or IKKβ-partially rescued the G2/M arrest induced by Vpr. Our results suggest that the NF-κB pathway is probably involved in Vpr-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
authors.forename: Ruikang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
authors.forename: Yongquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada.|Departments of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada.|Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China. wentaoqiao@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qiao
mesh_terms: D004261:DNA Replication; D059565:G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000502:physiology; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D034622:RNA Interference; D048348:Reverse Transcription / Q000187:drug effects; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014779:Virus Replication; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D054325:vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514912:vpr protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1
keywords: G2/M arrest; Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); NF-κB; viral protein R (Vpr)