The HIV A (sor) gene product is essential for virus infectivity (original) (raw)
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- Published: 20 August 1987
Nature volume 328, pages 728–730 (1987)Cite this article
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Abstract
The genome of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) contains several open reading frames (ORFs) not present in other viruses. The 'A' gene1, also known as Q_2_P'3, _ORF-1_4 or _sor_5, partially overlaps the pol gene; its protein product has a relative molecular mass of 23,000 (M r 23K) and is present in productively infected cells7–10. The function of this protein is unclear; mutant viruses deleted in 'A' replicate in and kill CD4+ lymphocyte lines8, but the high degree of conservation of the deduced amino-acid sequence in nine different HIV isolates (80%) and the presence of analogous genes in HIV-211 and other lentiviruses suggest that the gene function is an important one. Here we describe a mutant virus deficient in the 'A' gene which produces virion particles normally; however, the particles are & sm;1,000 times less infective than wild type. Transcomplementation experiments partially restore infectivity. The mutant virus spreads efficiently when virus-producing cells are co-cultivated with CD4+ lymphocytes, however, indicating that HIV can spread from cell to cell in a mechanism that does not require the 'A' gene product and probably does not require the production of infective virus particles.
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Authors and Affiliations
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
Klaus Strebel & Malcolm A. Martin - Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
Tom Folks - Laboratory of Chemical Biology, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
David Cohen - Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48189, USA
Daryl Daugherty - Georgetown University, Department of Microbiology, Washington DC, 20007, USA
Kathleen Clouse
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- Klaus Strebel
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Strebel, K., Daugherty, D., Clouse, K. et al. The HIV A (sor) gene product is essential for virus infectivity.Nature 328, 728–730 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328728a0
- Received: 21 May 1987
- Accepted: 24 July 1987
- Issue Date: 20 August 1987
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/328728a0