Abstract
BackgroundTransportin-SR2 (TRN-SR2, TNPO3, transportin 3) was previously identified as an interaction partner of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase and functions as a nuclear import factor of HIV-1. A possible role of capsid in transportin-SR2-mediated nuclear import was recently suggested by the findings that a chimeric HIV virus, carrying the murine leukemia virus (MLV) capsid and matrix proteins, displayed a transportin-SR2 independent phenotype, and that the HIV-1 N74D capsid mutant proved insensitive to transportin-SR2 knockdown.ResultsOur present analysis of viral specificity reveals that TRN-SR2 is not used to the same extent by all lentiviruses. The DNA flap does not determine the TRN-SR2 requirement of HIV-1. We corroborate the TRN-SR2 independent phenotype of the chimeric HIV virus carrying the MLV capsid and matrix proteins. We reanalyzed the HIV-1 N74D capsid mutant in cells transiently or stably depleted of transportin-SR2 and confirm that the N74D capsid mutant is independent of TRN-SR2 when pseudotyped with the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G). Remarkably, although somewhat less dependent on TRN-SR2 than wild type virus, the N74D capsid mutant carrying the wild type HIV-1 envelope required TRN-SR2 for efficient replication. By pseudotyping with envelopes that mediate pH-independent viral uptake including HIV-1, measles virus and amphotropic MLV envelopes, we demonstrate that HIV-1 N74D capsid mutant viruses retain partial dependency on TRN-SR2. However, this dependency on TRN-SR2 is lost when the HIV N74D capsid mutant is pseudotyped with envelopes mediating pH-dependent endocytosis, such as the VSV-G and Ebola virus envelopes.ConclusionHere we discover a link between the viral entry of HIV and its interaction with TRN-SR2. Our data confirm the importance of TRN-SR2 in HIV-1 replication and argue for careful interpretation of experiments performed with VSV-G pseudotyped viruses in studies on early steps of HIV replication including the role of capsid therein.
Highlights
Transportin-SR2 (TRN-SR2, TNPO3, transportin 3) was previously identified as an interaction partner of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase and functions as a nuclear import factor of HIV-1
Three days after siRNA transfection cells were transduced with concentrated vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) pseudotyped viral vectors derived from HIV-1, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or murine leukemia virus (MLV)
Since the DNA flap has been implicated in HIV nuclear import [35,36,37,38,39,40], we examined whether the central DNA flap might be important for the TRN-SR2 requirement of HIV-1
Summary
Transportin-SR2 (TRN-SR2, TNPO3, transportin 3) was previously identified as an interaction partner of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase and functions as a nuclear import factor of HIV-1. There are marked differences between the distinct families of retroviruses regarding their capacity to replicate in non-dividing cells. The lentivirinae such as the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can infect dividing and non-dividing cells such as macrophages, dendritic cells or CD4+ memory T-cells [1]. Many attempts have been made to determine the viral and cellular factors mediating nuclear import of the HIV PIC (for a review see [11]). Importin-a3 has very recently been implicated in HIV nuclear import [20]
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