Figure 7.

Model for silencing of unintegrated HIV-1 by the SMC5/6 complex

(A) Schematic of model: (Ai) in the absence of antagonism by Vpr, the SMC5/6 complex is recruited to unintegrated HIV-1 genomes in an SLF2-dependent manner. (Aii) This leads to compaction of viral chromatin by either topological or pseudotopological entrapment of DNA. A repressive chromatin environment is created, and viral gene expression is silenced. (Aiii) HIV-Vpr degrades SLF2 to antagonize restriction by the SMC5/6 complex, thereby rescuing gene expression from unintegrated viral genomes.