Skip to main content
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1996 Apr 30;93(9):4421–4424. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.9.4421

Nuclear export of late HIV-1 mRNAs occurs via a cellular protein export pathway.

R A Fridell 1, H P Bogerd 1, B R Cullen 1
PMCID: PMC39553  PMID: 8633082

Abstract

The Rev protein of HIV-1 is essential for the nuclear export of incompletely spliced viral mRNAs. This action depends on the mutationally defined Rev activation domain, which both binds the nucleoporin-like human cellular cofactor Rab/hRIP and also functions as a nuclear export signal. Protein kinase inhibitor alpha (PKI) also contains a potent nuclear export signal. However, PKI plays no role in nuclear RNA export and instead induces the nuclear export of a specific protein target, the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. Here, it is demonstrated that the nuclear export signal of PKI not only binds the Rab/hRIP cofactor specifically but also can effectively substitute for the Rev activation domain in mediating the nuclear export of HIV-1 mRNAs. We conclude that HIV-1 Rev and PKI act through an identical nuclear export pathway and that Rev, rather than using a dedicated RNA export pathway, is instead acting as an adaptor that allows viral mRNAs to access a cellular protein export pathway.

Full text

PDF
4421

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bogerd H. P., Fridell R. A., Madore S., Cullen B. R. Identification of a novel cellular cofactor for the Rev/Rex class of retroviral regulatory proteins. Cell. 1995 Aug 11;82(3):485–494. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90437-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cullen B. R. Regulation of HIV gene expression. AIDS. 1995;9 (Suppl A):S19–S32. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Daly T. J., Cook K. S., Gray G. S., Maione T. E., Rusche J. R. Specific binding of HIV-1 recombinant Rev protein to the Rev-responsive element in vitro. Nature. 1989 Dec 14;342(6251):816–819. doi: 10.1038/342816a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Feinberg M. B., Jarrett R. F., Aldovini A., Gallo R. C., Wong-Staal F. HTLV-III expression and production involve complex regulation at the levels of splicing and translation of viral RNA. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):807–817. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90062-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Felber B. K., Hadzopoulou-Cladaras M., Cladaras C., Copeland T., Pavlakis G. N. rev protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 affects the stability and transport of the viral mRNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Mar;86(5):1495–1499. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.5.1495. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fields S., Song O. A novel genetic system to detect protein-protein interactions. Nature. 1989 Jul 20;340(6230):245–246. doi: 10.1038/340245a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fischer U., Huber J., Boelens W. C., Mattaj I. W., Lührmann R. The HIV-1 Rev activation domain is a nuclear export signal that accesses an export pathway used by specific cellular RNAs. Cell. 1995 Aug 11;82(3):475–483. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90436-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fischer U., Meyer S., Teufel M., Heckel C., Lührmann R., Rautmann G. Evidence that HIV-1 Rev directly promotes the nuclear export of unspliced RNA. EMBO J. 1994 Sep 1;13(17):4105–4112. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06728.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fritz C. C., Zapp M. L., Green M. R. A human nucleoporin-like protein that specifically interacts with HIV Rev. Nature. 1995 Aug 10;376(6540):530–533. doi: 10.1038/376530a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hammarskjöld M. L., Heimer J., Hammarskjöld B., Sangwan I., Albert L., Rekosh D. Regulation of human immunodeficiency virus env expression by the rev gene product. J Virol. 1989 May;63(5):1959–1966. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.5.1959-1966.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Harper J. W., Adami G. R., Wei N., Keyomarsi K., Elledge S. J. The p21 Cdk-interacting protein Cip1 is a potent inhibitor of G1 cyclin-dependent kinases. Cell. 1993 Nov 19;75(4):805–816. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90499-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Heaphy S., Dingwall C., Ernberg I., Gait M. J., Green S. M., Karn J., Lowe A. D., Singh M., Skinner M. A. HIV-1 regulator of virion expression (Rev) protein binds to an RNA stem-loop structure located within the Rev response element region. Cell. 1990 Feb 23;60(4):685–693. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90671-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hope T. J., Bond B. L., McDonald D., Klein N. P., Parslow T. G. Effector domains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev and human T-cell leukemia virus type I Rex are functionally interchangeable and share an essential peptide motif. J Virol. 1991 Nov;65(11):6001–6007. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.11.6001-6007.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hope T. J., Huang X. J., McDonald D., Parslow T. G. Steroid-receptor fusion of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev transactivator: mapping cryptic functions of the arginine-rich motif. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Oct;87(19):7787–7791. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.19.7787. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Iwai S., Pritchard C., Mann D. A., Karn J., Gait M. J. Recognition of the high affinity binding site in rev-response element RNA by the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 rev protein. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 Dec 25;20(24):6465–6472. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.24.6465. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Izaurralde E., Mattaj I. W. RNA export. Cell. 1995 Apr 21;81(2):153–159. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90323-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jarmolowski A., Boelens W. C., Izaurralde E., Mattaj I. W. Nuclear export of different classes of RNA is mediated by specific factors. J Cell Biol. 1994 Mar;124(5):627–635. doi: 10.1083/jcb.124.5.627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Malim M. H., Böhnlein S., Hauber J., Cullen B. R. Functional dissection of the HIV-1 Rev trans-activator--derivation of a trans-dominant repressor of Rev function. Cell. 1989 Jul 14;58(1):205–214. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90416-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Malim M. H., Cullen B. R. HIV-1 structural gene expression requires the binding of multiple Rev monomers to the viral RRE: implications for HIV-1 latency. Cell. 1991 Apr 19;65(2):241–248. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90158-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Malim M. H., Cullen B. R. Rev and the fate of pre-mRNA in the nucleus: implications for the regulation of RNA processing in eukaryotes. Mol Cell Biol. 1993 Oct;13(10):6180–6189. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.10.6180. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Malim M. H., Hauber J., Le S. Y., Maizel J. V., Cullen B. R. The HIV-1 rev trans-activator acts through a structured target sequence to activate nuclear export of unspliced viral mRNA. Nature. 1989 Mar 16;338(6212):254–257. doi: 10.1038/338254a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Malim M. H., McCarn D. F., Tiley L. S., Cullen B. R. Mutational definition of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev activation domain. J Virol. 1991 Aug;65(8):4248–4254. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.8.4248-4254.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Malim M. H., Tiley L. S., McCarn D. F., Rusche J. R., Hauber J., Cullen B. R. HIV-1 structural gene expression requires binding of the Rev trans-activator to its RNA target sequence. Cell. 1990 Feb 23;60(4):675–683. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90670-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sodroski J., Goh W. C., Rosen C., Dayton A., Terwilliger E., Haseltine W. A second post-transcriptional trans-activator gene required for HTLV-III replication. Nature. 1986 May 22;321(6068):412–417. doi: 10.1038/321412a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Stutz F., Neville M., Rosbash M. Identification of a novel nuclear pore-associated protein as a functional target of the HIV-1 Rev protein in yeast. Cell. 1995 Aug 11;82(3):495–506. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90438-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Tiley L. S., Malim M. H., Tewary H. K., Stockley P. G., Cullen B. R. Identification of a high-affinity RNA-binding site for the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jan 15;89(2):758–762. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.2.758. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Weichselbraun I., Farrington G. K., Rusche J. R., Böhnlein E., Hauber J. Definition of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Rev and human T-cell leukemia virus type I Rex protein activation domain by functional exchange. J Virol. 1992 Apr;66(4):2583–2587. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.4.2583-2587.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wen W., Harootunian A. T., Adams S. R., Feramisco J., Tsien R. Y., Meinkoth J. L., Taylor S. S. Heat-stable inhibitors of cAMP-dependent protein kinase carry a nuclear export signal. J Biol Chem. 1994 Dec 23;269(51):32214–32220. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Wen W., Meinkoth J. L., Tsien R. Y., Taylor S. S. Identification of a signal for rapid export of proteins from the nucleus. Cell. 1995 Aug 11;82(3):463–473. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90435-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Zapp M. L., Green M. R. Sequence-specific RNA binding by the HIV-1 Rev protein. Nature. 1989 Dec 7;342(6250):714–716. doi: 10.1038/342714a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Zapp M. L., Hope T. J., Parslow T. G., Green M. R. Oligomerization and RNA binding domains of the type 1 human immunodeficiency virus Rev protein: a dual function for an arginine-rich binding motif. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Sep 1;88(17):7734–7738. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.17.7734. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES