Chemical synthesis and expression of a gene encoding HIV-1 TAT protein

Activity of the dietary antioxidant ergothioneine in a virus gene-based assay for inhibitors of HIV transcription

The "Long Terminal Repeat" (LTR) of HIV-1 is the target of cellular transcription factors such as NF-kappaB, and serves as the promoter-enhancer for the viral genome when integrated in host DNA. Various LTR-reporter gene constructs have been used for in vitro studies of activators or inhibitors of HIV-1 transcription, e.g., to show that antioxidants such as lipoic acid and selenium inhibit NF-kappaB-dependent HIV-1 LTR activation. One such construct is the pHIVlacZ plasmid, with the HIV-1 LTR driving expression of the lacZ gene (encoding beta-galactosidase, beta-gal). Typically, for inhibitor screening, cells transfected with pHIVlacZ are activated using tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and the colorimetric o-nitrophenol assay is used to assess changes in beta-gal activity. A variant of this assay was developed as described here, in which LTR activation was induced by pro-fs, a novel HIV-1 gene product encoded via a -1 frameshift from the protease gene. Cotransfection of cells with pHIVlacZ along with a pro-fs construct produced a significant increase in beta-gal activity over controls. L-ergothioneine dose dependently inhibited both TNF-alpha-mediated and pro-fs-mediated increases in beta-gal activity, with an IC50 of about 6 mM. Thus antioxidant strategy involving ergothioneine derived from food plants might be of benefit in chronic immunodeficiency diseases.

HIV-1 Tat protein is poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated in vitro

Purified recombinant HIV-1 Tat protein stimulated acceptor-dependent reaction of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis of the reaction products by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with anti-poly(ADP-ribose) antibody revealed that recombinant Tat proteins were covalently modified with poly(ADP-ribose) in the enzyme reaction. Eventhough no significant effect of the modification was detected in the activity of Tat to form a specific complex with TAR (a viral transactivation response element) RNA, the present results raise the possibility that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase is involved in the regulation of HIV-1 through the modification of a virus-encoded transactivator, Tat protein.