Laboratory of Neurovirology & Inflammation Biology, Section of Infectious Diseases, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Uppal Road, Hyderabad-500007, (A.P), India.
Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2011 Mar;11(3):269-83. doi: 10.1517/14712598.2011.546339. Epub 2011 Jan 5.
HIV-Tat protein displays an array of functions that are essential for HIV replication. The structural flexibility of Tat protein has been regarded as one of the unique features responsible for sustaining diverse functions, from facilitated membrane-crossing ability to strong affinity for RNA binding.
RNA binding ability and presence of multiple interacting domains in the same protein are very important properties of HIV-Tat protein. Tat protein has shown great ability to influence cellular and viral gene expression. We discuss the functions of HIV Tat protein, describing its structural significance, secretion and uptake of HIV Tat protein by immune cells, post-translational modifications and role of HIV Tat protein in HIV pathogenesis.
Perturbation in expression of many cytokines and chemokines by HIV-Tat protein exhibits downstream immune suppressive function as well as activation of several apoptotic genes. This explains the massive death of immune cells due to bystander effect of HIV Tat protein among HIV-infected patients.
HIV-Tat 蛋白具有多种功能，这些功能对 HIV 的复制至关重要。Tat 蛋白的结构灵活性被认为是维持多种功能的独特特征之一，这些功能包括促进膜穿透能力和与 RNA 结合的强亲和力。
RNA 结合能力和同一蛋白中存在多个相互作用结构域是 HIV-Tat 蛋白的重要特性。Tat 蛋白表现出极大地影响细胞和病毒基因表达的能力。我们讨论了 HIV Tat 蛋白的功能，描述了其结构意义、免疫细胞中 HIV Tat 蛋白的分泌和摄取、翻译后修饰以及 HIV Tat 蛋白在 HIV 发病机制中的作用。
HIV-Tat 蛋白对许多细胞因子和趋化因子表达的干扰表现出下游免疫抑制功能以及激活几种凋亡基因。这解释了 HIV 感染患者中 HIV Tat 蛋白的旁观者效应导致大量免疫细胞死亡的原因。
