Cell biological aspects of HIV-1 infection: effect of the anti-HIV-1 agent Avarol.

HTLV-I, II, HIV-1, 2 and other retroviruses possess genes for the transcriptional activators, tax and tat, the expression of which is closely related with the pathogenesis of leukemia and human immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and induced by the virus infection. The effects of these activators on the expression of host cell genes, however, are still largely unknown. Recently the authors have discovered that infection with HIV or Mo-MuLV causes a specific acceleration of the synthesis of an UAG suppressor glutamine tRNA in the host cell; they could demonstrate that this phenomenon is based on transcriptional promotion of tRNA genes which is due to a new transcriptional activator synthesized as a function of viral infection and/or increased virus levels. The present paper discusses the significance of the suppressor tRNA and explains the role of the virus in the regulation of its expression.