FIG 6.
Relocalization of A3A to the cytoplasm confers antiviral activity against Vif-deficient HIV-1. (A) Amino acid alignment of A3H and the A3AA3H-RNA+L3 chimera. Asterisks indicate amino acids in analogous A3Z3s that have similar biophysical properties. Dashed boxes indicate ROI. (B) Representative images of the indicated mCh-A3 chimeric proteins. Scale bar, 10 μm. (C) Top, Vif-deficient HIV-1 restriction assay with the indicated A3 constructs (“+” indicates that α-helix 1, loop 9, and the RNA binding interface are exchanged along with the indicated regions). A representative image of each enzyme is shown above the corresponding viral infectivity results. Bottom, immunoblots demonstrating expression of each construct in the cell lysate and the ability of the A3 protein to package into Vif-deficient HIV-1 particles. The asterisk indicates a nonspecific band in the viral particle blot. Scale bar, 5 μm.