Journal of Virology, April 2001, p. 4014-4018, Vol. 75, No. 8
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.8.4014-4018.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Myles H. Thaler Center for AIDS and Human Retrovirus Research1 and Department of Microbiology,2 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 372323
Received 12 October 2000/Accepted 11 January 2001
We have investigated the effects of Nef on infectivity in the context of various viral envelope proteins. These experiments were performed with a minimal vector system where Nef is the only accessory protein present. Our results support the hypothesis that the route of entry influences the ability of Nef to enhance human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectivity. We show that HIV particles pseudotyped with Ebola virus glycoprotein or vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G), which fuse at low pH, do not require Nef for optimal infectivity. In contrast, Nef significantly enhances the infectivity of virus particles that contain envelope proteins that fuse at neutral pH (CCR5-dependent HIV Env, CXCR4-dependent HIV Env, or amphotropic murine leukemia virus Env). In addition, our results demonstrate that virus particles containing mixed CXCR4-dependent HIV and VSV-G envelope proteins show a conditional requirement for Nef for optimal infectivity, depending on which protein is allowed to facilitate entry.
Present address: Laboratoire de Virologie et Pathogenese Virale,
UMR 5537 CNRS, Faculte de Medecine Laenne, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France.
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