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Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Author Spotlight: Exploring the Role of Unfolded Protein Response in HIV-1 Replication and Infectivity
Published on: June 14, 2024
HIV-1 Vif Triggers Cell Cycle Arrest by Degrading Cellular PPP2R5 Phospho-regulators
Daniel J Salamango1, Terumasa Ikeda2, Seyed Arad Moghadasi1
1Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Abstract:
HIV-1 Vif hijacks a cellular ubiquitin ligase complex to degrade antiviral APOBEC3 enzymes and PP2A phosphatase regulators (PPP2R5A-E). APOBEC3 counteraction is essential for viral pathogenesis. However, Vif also functions through an unknown mechanism to induce G2 cell cycle arrest. Here, deep mutagenesis is used to define the Vif surface required for PPP2R5 degradation and isolate a panel of separation-of-function mutants (PPP2R5 degradation-deficient and APOBEC3G degradation-proficient). Functional studies with Vif and PPP2R5 mutants were combined to demonstrate that PPP2R5 is, in fact, the target Vif degrades to induce G2 arrest. Pharmacologic and genetic approaches show that direct modulation of PP2A function or depletion of specific PPP2R5 proteins causes an indistinguishable arrest phenotype. Vif function in the cell cycle checkpoint is present in common HIV-1 subtypes worldwide and likely advantageous for viral pathogenesis.
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