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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Visualization of HIV-1 Gag Binding to Giant Unilamellar Vesicle GUV Membranes
Published on: July 28, 2016
Regulation of HIV-1 Gag-Pol Expression by Shiftless, an Inhibitor of Programmed -1 Ribosomal Frameshifting
Xinlu Wang1, Yifang Xuan1, Yuling Han2
1CAS Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, CAS Centre for Excellence in Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Abstract:
Programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting (-1PRF) is a widely used translation recoding mechanism. HIV-1 expresses Gag-Pol protein from the Gag-coding mRNA through -1PRF, and the ratio of Gag to Gag-Pol is strictly maintained for efficient viral replication. Here, we report that the interferon-stimulated gene product C19orf66 (herein named Shiftless) is a host factor that inhibits the -1PRF of HIV-1. Shiftless (SFL) also inhibited the -1PRF of a variety of mRNAs from both viruses and cellular genes. SFL interacted with the -1PRF signal of target mRNA and translating ribosomes and caused premature translation termination at the frameshifting site. Downregulation of translation release factor eRF3 or eRF1 reduced SFL-mediated premature translation termination. We propose that SFL binding to target mRNA and the translating ribosome interferes with the frameshifting process. These findings identify SFL as a broad-spectrum inhibitor of -1PRF and help to further elucidate the mechanisms of -1PRF.
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