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A unique thyroid hormone response element in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 long terminal repeat that
A Rahman1, A Esmaili, F Saatcioglu
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0636, USA.
Abstract:
Long terminal repeat (LTR) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 is activated by thyroid hormone (T3) receptor alpha (T3R alpha) in the absence of ligand. Addition of T3 reverses this effect. This activity is mediated by a high affinity T3 response element (T3RE) within the HIV-1 LTR, termed the HIV-T3RE (bases -74 to -50), which coincides with the Sp1 element as demonstrated by mobility shift, DNaseI footprinting, and methylation interference analyses. HIV-T3RE mediates ligand-independent activation of transcription by T3R alpha when linked to a heterologous promoter. In addition, the viral transactivator Tat synergizes with T3R alpha to activate the HIV-1 LTR in the absence of T3, which is relieved in its presence. These findings have implications for the possible control of HIV-1 LTR activity by T3.