Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026

A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
The restriction factors of human immunodeficiency virus
Reuben S Harris1, Judd F Hultquist, David T Evans
1Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. rsh@umn.edu
Abstract:
Cellular proteins called "restriction factors" can serve as powerful blockades to HIV replication, but the virus possesses elaborate strategies to circumvent these barriers. First, we discuss general hallmarks of a restriction factor. Second, we review how the viral Vif protein protects the viral genome from lethal levels of cDNA deamination by promoting APOBEC3 protein degradation; how the viral Vpu, Env, and Nef proteins facilitate internalization and degradation of the virus-tethering protein BST-2/tetherin; and how the viral Vpx protein prevents the premature termination of reverse transcription by degrading the dNTPase SAMHD1. These HIV restriction and counter-restriction mechanisms suggest strategies for new therapeutic interventions.
Related Concept Videos
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Immunodeficiency Diseases
There are three main causes of immunodeficiency disorders...
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Retroviruses
Viruses with RNA Genomes

