JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pöhlmann, S.
Right arrow Articles by Kirchhoff, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pöhlmann, S.
Right arrow Articles by Kirchhoff, F.

J Virol, July 1998, p. 5589-5598, Vol. 72, No. 7
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Sequences Just Upstream of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Core Enhancer Allow Efficient Replication in the Absence of NF-kappa B and Sp1 Binding Elements

Stefan Pöhlmann,1 Stefan Flöss,1 Petr O. Ilyinskii,2 Thomas Stamminger,1 and Frank Kirchhoff1,*

Institute for Clinical and Molecular Virology, University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany,1 and New England Regional Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 017722

Received 5 September 1997/Accepted 23 March 1998

Large deletions of the upstream U3 sequences in the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of human immunodeficiency virus and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) accumulate in vivo in the absence of an intact nef gene. In the SIV U3 region, about 65 bp just upstream of the single NF-kappa B binding site always remained intact, and some evidence for a novel enhancer element in this region exists. We analyzed the transcriptional and replicative capacities of SIVmac239 mutants containing deletions or mutations in these upstream U3 sequences and/or the NF-kappa B and Sp1 binding sites. Even in the absence of 400 bp of upstream U3 sequences, the NF-kappa B site and all four Sp1 binding sites, the SIV promoter maintained about 15% of the wild-type LTR activity and was fully responsive to Tat activation in transient reporter assays. The effects of these deletions on virus production after transfection of COS-1 cells with full-length proviral constructs were much greater. Deletion of the upstream U3 sequences had no significant influence on viral replication when either the single NF-kappa B site or the Sp1 binding sites were intact. In contrast, the 26 bp of sequence located immediately upstream of the NF-kappa B site was essential for efficient replication when all core enhancer elements were deleted. A purine-rich site in this region binds specifically to the transcription factor Elf-1, a member of the ets proto-oncogene-encoded family. Our results indicate a high degree of functional redundancy in the SIVmac U3 region. Furthermore, we defined a novel regulatory element located immediately upstream of the NF-kappa B binding site that allows efficient viral replication in the absence of the entire core enhancer region.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Clinical and Molecular Virology, University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Schlossgarten 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany. Phone: 49-9131-856483. Fax: 49-9131-856493. E-mail: fkkirchh{at}viro.med.uni-erlangen.de.

J Virol, July 1998, p. 5589-5598, Vol. 72, No. 7
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.