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Biomedical subjects

D Trono

Publications and source records attributed to D Trono.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

The nuclear localization signal of the matrix protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 allows the establishment of infection in macrophages and quiescent T lymphocytes.

Lentiviruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), are unusual among retroviruses in their ability to infect nondividing cells. The matrix proteins of several lentiviruses contain a short stretch of amino acids reminiscent of known nuclear localization signals. In HIV-1, this motif has been shown to function as a nuclear targeting sequence when conjugated to a heterologous protein, and to permit the active nuclear import of the HIV-1 preintegration complex in growth-arrested cells. In the present work, mutations were introduced in the matrix nuclear localization region of T-cell- and macrophage-tropic HIV-1 clones. The resulting viral mutants replicated with normal or even accelerated kinetics in dividing cells, including activated peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, in sharp contrast with wild-type virus, the mutants could not grow efficiently in terminally differentiated macrophages or establish a stable and inducible infection intermediate in unstimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes. Because macrophages represent a major viral reservoir in vivo, and because at any given time most T cells in the body are quiescent, these results strongly suggest that the karyophilic properties of the matrix protein are critical for the spread of the virus in HIV-infected individuals, and consequently for AIDS pathogenesis.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1994

Nef induces CD4 endocytosis: requirement for a critical dileucine motif in the membrane-proximal CD4 cytoplasmic domain.

CD4 is crucial for antigen-driven helper T cell signaling and is used as receptor by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The HIV early protein Nef causes a loss of CD4 from cell surfaces through a previously undefined posttranscriptional mechanism. Here, we demonstrate that Nef acts by inducing CD4 endocytosis, resulting in its degradation in lysosomes. CD4 down-regulation is strongly enhanced by the association of Nef with cell membranes through myristoylation. The study of chimeric molecules reveals that 20 membrane-proximal residues of the CD4 cytoplasmic domain are sufficient to confer Nef sensitivity. Within this region, a dileucine motif, reminiscent of an endocytosis and lysosomal targeting signal found in the CD3 gamma and delta chains, is crucial for CD4 response to Nef.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Molecular biology of HIV.

This article reviews the molecular events involved in HIV replication. A special emphasis is placed on aspects most relevant to AIDS pathogenesis and on recent discoveries.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Association of protein kinase C activation with induction of ornithine decarboxylase in murine but not human keratinocyte cultures.

The goal of this study was to compare the response of mouse epidermal keratinocytes (MEKs) and human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs) to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) with respect to the activation and downregulation of protein kinase C (PKC), the expression of c-jun and c-fos, and the expression and induction of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity. Keratinocytes from adult CD-1 mice and from discarded adult human skin were grown in primary culture in a high-calcium serum-free medium that supported proliferation and differentiation. Immunoblotting of freshly isolated and cultured MEKs and HEKs for isozymes of protein kinase C revealed that fresh HEKs contained PKC alpha, PKC beta, and PKC delta; no PKC gamma, PKC epsilon, or PKC zeta were detected. In fresh MEKs, PKC alpha, PKC beta, PKC delta, and PKC zeta were observed, but not PKC gamma or PKC epsilon. After 2 wk in culture, the isozyme profiles of MEKs and HEKs were similar except that PKC gamma was noticeably present in HEK cultures. Activation of partially purified total PKC by TPA was similar in freshly isolated and cultured MEKs and HEKs, indicating that the two species were similar in this regard and that 2 wk of culture did not alter this characteristic. When MEK and HEK cultures were treated with TPA for 3 h, less than 30% of the control level of PKC activity was detected, indicating that TPA-induced downregulation of PKC was similar in MEKs and HEKs. After treatment with TPA, MEK cultures produced a large induction of both c-jun and c-fos mRNA by 60 min, as determined by northern blot analysis, and a large induction of ODC mRNA and enzyme activity by 6 h. TPA treatment of cultured HEKs, however, did not induce ODC activity; in fact, less activity, compared with that of control cultures, was observed. Northern blot analysis also revealed no increase in c-jun, c-fos, and ODC mRNA in HEKs. However, c-jun and c-fos mRNA and both ODC mRNA and enzyme activity were induced in HEKs fed growth factors after several days of deprivation. This suggests that the lack of ODC induction by TPA in HEKs is probably due to species differences in downstream steps in PKC signal transduction.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

HIV-1 latency due to the site of proviral integration.

Cell lines that are nonproductively infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), such as the T-lymphocyte ACH2 clone, have been proposed to represent in vitro models of proviral latency. We have previously shown that such cells exhibit an aberrant pattern of viral RNA expression, with a large excess of fully spliced viral RNAs. Here, by superinfecting the ACH2 cells with a second HIV-1 virus, we demonstrate the primary mechanism of HIV-1 proviral latency in this cell line. In the dually infected cells, the exogenous virus was transcribed at high levels. However, expression from the provirus originally present in the ACH2 cells was not quantitatively increased. Still, its RNA production was shifted from a blocked early-stage to a fully productive pattern. This was interpreted to be a consequence of the high levels of Rev produced by the exogenous virus, acting in trans to promote the cytoplasmic export of all incompletely spliced viral mRNAs made in the cells. Comparable numbers of copies of each provirus were present in the dually infected cells, and both viruses grew equally well, once passed onto fresh cells. These results indicate that the low levels of transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 virus present in ACH2 cells are secondary to specific characteristics of the region of the cellular genome in which the proviral DNA is integrated.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

The blocks to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat and Rev functions in mouse cell lines are independent.

Rodent cells present two blocks precluding the expression of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome. First, the viral protein Tat is only poorly active in these cells. Second, when the HIV-1 provirus is integrated in the genome of mouse cells, it electively fails to express the viral structural proteins, indicating a block to Rev action. Both defects can be complemented by fusion of the infected mouse cells with uninfected human cells. Because the production of high levels of Rev is dependent on Tat-mediated transactivation and because both Tat and Rev bind the viral transcript, it has been hypothesized that the two blocks found in rodent cells might be linked. In the present work, we demonstrate that overexpression of Rev in mouse cell lines does not relieve their block in HIV-1 structural-gene expression. In addition, we show that this defect is also present in human-mouse cell hybrids which contain human chromosome 12 and support Tat function. On that basis, we conclude that the blocks to HIV-1 Tat and Rev action in mouse cell lines are independent and result from the absence of distinct cellular elements that are critical for HIV-1 gene expression.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Vif is crucial for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proviral DNA synthesis in infected cells.

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vif gene encodes a 23-kDa protein of unknown function, also produced by most other known lentiviruses. Vif was found to be essential for the spread of HIV-1 in peripheral blood lymphocytes and in primary macrophages, as well as in some but not all established T-cell lines. Vif was required at the stage of viral particle formation, for cell-to-cell as well as for cell-free transmission of HIV-1. Accordingly, vif-defective viruses could be complemented by the expression of vif in the producer but not in the target cell. vif-defective virions contained wild-type amounts of Gag and Env proteins, reverse transcriptase, integrase, genomic RNA, and partial reverse transcripts. Most importantly, they could enter cells normally, and the vif defect could not be rescued through the use of HIV(MLV [murine leukemia virus]) pseudotypes. Instead, vif-mutant viruses were severely impaired in their ability to complete the synthesis of proviral DNA, once internalized in the target cell. These results suggest that Vif plays a role which is novel for a retroviral protein, in allowing the processing and/or the transport of the internalized HIV core.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Blocked early-stage latency in the peripheral blood cells of certain individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections of humans have a natural history characterized by a variable but usually slow progression to an immunodeficient state. We have described a molecular model of HIV-1 proviral latency in certain cell lines, characterized by extremely low or undetectable levels of unspliced genomic HIV-1-specific RNA but significant levels of multiply spliced HIV-1-specific RNA. We have utilized a quantitative reverse transcriptase-initiated polymerase chain reaction to measure the levels of various HIV-1 RNA species in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The median level of multiply spliced HIV-1 RNA was dramatically higher than the median level of unspliced viral RNA in asymptomatic individuals. In addition, HIV-1 RNA patterns characterized by at least a 10-fold excess of multiply spliced to unspliced viral RNA were significantly more common in asymptomatic individuals than in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. We suggest that asymptomatic clinical HIV-1 infection is characterized by a preponderance of HIV-1-infected peripheral blood cells blocked at an early stage of HIV-1 infection. This viral expression pattern, which we have called blocked early-stage latency, may constitute a reservoir of latently infected cells in certain HIV-1-infected persons.

HIV Seropositivity↗
PubMed1992

Efficient replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 requires a threshold level of Rev: potential implications for latency.

The Rev protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is essential for the expression of the structural genes of HIV-1. To determine whether a functional threshold level of Rev is required to allow efficient HIV-1 replication, CD4-positive HeLa cells, constitutively expressing a Rev-deficient provirus, were transfected with various quantities of a Rev-expressing plasmid. Compared with the quantity of the Rev-producing plasmid transfected, HIV-1 replication was distinctly nonlinear as measured by HIV-1 p24 antigen and HIV-1-specific RNA production. A quantitative RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated that Rev mRNA expression was linearly correlated with the quantity of Rev-expressing plasmid which was transfected into these cells. These data suggest that a critical threshold of Rev is required for a highly productive HIV-1 infection. This threshold level of Rev may be involved in the generation and maintenance of HIV-1 proviral latency.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Partial reverse transcripts in virions from human immunodeficiency and murine leukemia viruses.

Reverse transcription of the retroviral genome is thought to start after virions enter target cells. Purified preparations of human immunodeficiency virus were found to contain virus-specific DNA, detectable by polymerase chain reaction amplification. This DNA resulted from reverse transcription in newly assembled virus particles and not from contamination by cellular DNA, because virions contained a striking excess of early versus late transcripts and because the accumulation of these products was sensitive to 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (zidovudine) treatment of producer cells. A similar observation was made with murine amphotropic retrovirus particles. It is therefore likely that all retroviruses contain partial reverse transcripts.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Alterations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene during mouse skin tumor progression.

The two-stage murine skin tumorigenesis model is widely used to study the development of squamous cell neoplasias. We have investigated expression of the p53 and retinoblastoma tumor suppressor genes in eight murine skin tumor cell lines of varied histopathology and malignant potential, in seven in vivo-derived clones from these cell lines, and in 39 primary short-term cultures of similarly induced skin tumors at various stages of tumor progression. One squamous cell carcinoma cell line and three more malignant clones derived from it revealed mutations of the p53 protein by immunoprecipitation analyses despite normal-sized p53 transcripts. Sequence analysis identified the nature of the point mutations in these lines, a G----C transversion in codon 132. Mouse retinoblastoma transcripts and protein were unaltered in all the cell lines examined. Among short-term cultures of skin tumors, the p53 gene appeared normal in all papillomas and early well-differentiated carcinomas by Southern and immunoprecipitation analyses. In contrast, four of eight tumors from later stages of promotion (50-60 weeks) possessed alterations in p53, including loss of the p53 product, and loss of immunoreactivity with a murine-specific antibody recognizing only wild-type p53 protein. Loss of heterozygosity at the p53 locus was similarly observed in several more malignant tumors from later stages of promotion. In contrast retinoblastoma expression was normal regardless of the stage of promotion or histological grade of the tumor. Direct sequence analyses of exons 5 through 8 of the p53 gene in eight advanced murine skin tumors revealed a 25% incidence of p53 mutations. These point mutations were located in codons 245 and 263. Collectively, these data indicate that alterations in the p53 gene occur in 25 to 50% of murine skin tumors induced by the two-stage tumorigenesis protocol and are later events in murine skin tumor progression. Moreover, these alterations are associated with tumors possessing a more malignant and/or poorly differentiated phenotype.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Lipopolysaccharide is a potent monocyte/macrophage-specific stimulator of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 expression.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) potently stimulates human immunodeficiency virus type 1-long terminal repeat (HIV-1-LTR) CAT constructs transfected into monocyte/macrophage-like cell lines but not a T cell line. This effect appears to be mediated through the induction of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrate that LPS induces a DNA binding activity indistinguishable from NF-kappa B in U937 and THP-1 cells. LPS is also shown to dramatically increase HIV-1 production from a chronically infected monocyte/macrophage-like cloned cell line, U1, which produces very low levels of HIV-1 at baseline. The stimulation of viral production from this cell line occurs only if these cells are treated with granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) before treatment with LPS. This stimulation of HIV-1 production is correlated with an increase in the level of HIV-1 RNA and and activation of NF-kappa B. LPS is not able to induce HIV-1 production in a cloned T cell line. The effect of LPS on HIV-1 replication occurs at picogram per milliliter concentrations and may be clinically significant in understanding the variability of the natural history of HIV-1 infection.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Cells nonproductively infected with HIV-1 exhibit an aberrant pattern of viral RNA expression: a molecular model for latency.

U1 and ACH-2 cells are subclones of HIV-1-infected monocyte/macrophage-like and T lymphocyte cell lines, respectively, which express the HIV-1 genome at very low levels. We have examined whether they might provide a model of HIV-1 latency. The patterns of HIV-1-specific RNA expressed in these cells consisted of singly and multiply spliced RNA species, with little or no full-length genomic RNA. Upon stimulation with agents that activate the HIV-1 long terminal repeat in these cells, a marked rise in the amount of small mRNAs, encoding the viral regulatory proteins, preceded the increase in the unspliced RNA. Thus, U1 and ACH-2 cells maintain HIV-1 in a state equivalent to the early phase of a lytic infection and, after stimulation, recapitulate the events of a single cycle infection of highly susceptible target cells.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1990

A human cell factor is essential for HIV-1 Rev action.

To examine the restriction of HIV growth in murine cells, we infected NIH 3T3 cells with HIV pseudotyped by Moloney murine leukemia virus. The virus, which carried a dominant selectable marker under the control of the HIV LTR, gave large numbers of resistant clones, showing that murine cells are permissive for HIV uncoating, reverse transcription, nuclear transport and integration. However, we found that several murine cell lines, as well as CHO cells, could not support the function of rev, the viral regulatory gene which, in human cells, induces the cytoplasmic expression of the incompletely spliced class of HIV mRNAs that encode the viral structural proteins. Transfection of the HIV-infected murine cells with a HTLV-1 rex-expressing vector failed to rescue the rev- phenotype, indicating that the block extended to rex function. Most importantly, we could complement the rev defect by fusing the infected murine with uninfected human cells. We conclude that HIV tropism is partly a consequence of a trans-acting cellular factor critical for Rev function.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Substitutions in the protease (3Cpro) gene of poliovirus can suppress a mutation in the 5' noncoding region.

The poliovirus mutant 5NC-11 has a 4-base insertion at position 70 within the 5' untranslated region and is deficient in RNA synthesis. Revertants from 5NC-11 were isolated, showing a partial recovery of wild-type levels of RNA synthesis. The 5' noncoding region of those revertants contained the mutation intact; mix-and-match experiments with the cDNA from these revertants revealed that a restricted region within the 3C gene was the site of the suppressing mutations in the revertants. The suppressors were point mutations, confirmed by introducing them into the 3C gene by site-directed mutagenesis. Although complementation studies indicated that the suppressors were cis active, we believe that protein changes rather than RNA sequence alterations are responsible for the suppression because RNA changes that did not alter protein sequence had no effect, whereas various protein alterations were suppressive. The results therefore imply that protein 3C interacts with the 5' end of the RNA and may play a role in RNA replication.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

HIV-1 Gag mutants can dominantly interfere with the replication of the wild-type virus.

The products of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) gag gene exist in a highly multimerized state in the mature virion. For that reason, they may represent a particularly suitable target for the generation of dominant negative mutants. A number of HIV site-directed Gag mutants did show interference with the production of infectious viral particles from cells in which they were cotransfected with a wild-type proviral DNA. Furthermore, cells constitutively expressing such HIV Gag mutants had an impaired ability to support HIV replication when infected with wild-type virus. The block was localized to the late stages of the virus life cycle. Such Gag variants could constitute prototypes for the development of anti-HIV intracellular immunization.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Sequential trisomization of chromosomes 6 and 7 in mouse skin premalignant lesions.

Using a direct cytogenetic technique, we identified a nonrandom trisomy of chromosome 6 in 12 of 12 aneuploid mouse skin papillomas and in 10 of 11 squamous cell carcinomas induced by chemical carcinogenesis. The second most common abnormality observed was trisomy of chromosome 7 found in most dysplastic papillomas and in 10 of 11 carcinomas. The two trisomies were the only abnormalities found in all aneuploid papillomas and in several carcinomas. Mutation at codon 61 of the Ha-ras gene, which resides on chromosome 7, was also a common feature of the tumors sampled. Extensive homology exists between mouse chromosome 6 and human chromosome 7, the trisomy of which was recently suggested as a primary cytogenetic event in several human epithelial cancers. We propose a multistep model of tumor progression in which a sequence of specific nonrandom chromosomal abnormalities appear to be required for malignant transformation.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene↗