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J. Virol. doi:10.1128/JVI.02038-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

A ‘dormant’ IRES controls translation of the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)

Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Unité de Virologie Humaine, IFR 128, Lyon, F-69364 France, Inserm, U758, Lyon, F-69364 France, Department of Experimental Pathology, Retrovirus Center and Virology Section, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 35, I-56127 Pisa, Italy

	Abstract

The characterization of IRESes in virtually all lentiviruses prompted us to investigate the mechanism used by the Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) to produce viral proteins. Various in vitro translation assays with mono- and bicistronic constructs revealed that translation of the FIV genomic RNA occurred both by a cap-dependent mechanism and by weak internal entry of the ribosomes. This weak IRES activity was confirmed in Feline cells expressing bicistronic RNAs containing the FIV 5'UTR. Surprisingly, the infection of the feline cells with FIV, but not HIV-1, resulted in a great increase of FIV translation. Moreover, a change in the cellular physiological condition provoked by heat stress resulted in the specific stimulation of expression driven by the FIV 5'UTR whilst cap-dependent initiation was severely repressed. These results reveal the presence of a "dormant" IRES that becomes activated by viral infection and cellular stress.

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