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HIV-1 Vpr protein activates the NF-κB pathway to promote G2/M cell cycle arrest

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Virologica Sinica

Abstract

Viral protein R (Vpr) plays an important role in the replication and pathogenesis of Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Some of the various functions attributed to Vpr, including the induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest, activating the NF-κB pathway, and promoting viral reverse transcription, might be interrelated. To test this hypothesis, a panel of Vpr mutants were investigated for their ability to induce G2/M arrest and to activate the NF-κB pathway. The results showed that the Vpr mutants that failed to activate NF-κB also lost the activity to induce G2/M arrest, which suggests that inducing G2/M arrest via Vpr depends at least partially on the activation of NF-κB. This latter possibility is supported by data showing that knocking down the key factors in the NF-κB pathway–p65, RelB, IKKα, or IKKβ–partially rescued the G2/M arrest induced by Vpr. Our results suggest that the NF-κB pathway is probably involved in Vpr-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest.

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Author notes

  1. Ruikang Liu

    Present address: Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-3210, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology (Ministry of Education) and Key Laboratory of Microbial Functional Genomics (Tianjin), College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Zhibin Liang, Ruikang Liu, Yongquan Lin, Juan Tan & Wentao Qiao

  2. Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada

    Chen Liang

  3. Departments of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada

    Chen Liang

  4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, H3T 1E2, Canada

    Chen Liang

Authors
  1. Zhibin Liang
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  2. Ruikang Liu
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  4. Chen Liang
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Correspondence to Wentao Qiao.

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ORCID: 0000-0003-0449-694X

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Liang, Z., Liu, R., Lin, Y. et al. HIV-1 Vpr protein activates the NF-κB pathway to promote G2/M cell cycle arrest. Virol. Sin. 30, 441–448 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-015-3654-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-015-3654-8

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