Antagonism of BST-2/Tetherin Is a Conserved Function of the Env Glycoprotein of Primary HIV-2 Isolates.

ABSTRACT: Although HIV-2 does not encode a vpu gene, the ability to antagonize bone marrow stromal antigen 2 (BST-2) is conserved in some HIV-2 isolates, where it is controlled by the Env glycoprotein. We previously reported that a single-amino-acid difference between the laboratory-adapted ROD10 and ROD14 Envs controlled the enhancement of virus release (referred to here as Vpu-like) activity. Here, we investigated how conserved the Vpu-like activity is in primary HIV-2 isolates. We found that half of the 34 tested primary HIV-2 Env isolates obtained from 7 different patients enhanced virus release. Interestingly, most HIV-2 patients harbored a mixed population of viruses containing or lacking Vpu-like activity. Vpu-like activity and Envelope functionality varied significantly among Env isolates; h

SUBMITTER: Chen CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5126365 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature