Premium
On the Role of Interferon Regulatory Factors in HIV‐1 Replication
Author(s) -
MARSILI GIULIA,
BORSETTI ALESSANDRA,
SGARBANTI MARCO,
REMOLI ANNA LISA,
RIDOLFI BARBARA,
STELLACCI EMILIA,
ENSOLI BARBARA,
BATTISTINI ANGELA
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1299.005
Subject(s) - interferon regulatory factors , biology , viral replication , interferon , response element , transcriptional regulation , transcription factor , microbiology and biotechnology , long terminal repeat , gene , irf1 , transcription (linguistics) , regulation of gene expression , genetics , virus , promoter , gene expression , linguistics , philosophy
A bstract : Interferons (IFNs) are pleiotropic cytokines that possess several biological activities and play a central role in basic and applied research as mediators of antiviral and antigrowth responses, modulators of the immune system, and therapeutic agents against viral diseases and cancer. Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) have been identified together with signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) from studies on the type I IFN as well as IFN‐stimulated (ISG) gene regulation and signaling. IRFs constitute a family of transcriptional activators and repressors implicated in multiple biological processes including regulation of immune responses and host defence, cytokine signaling, cell growth regulation, and hematopoietic development. All members share a well‐conserved DNA binding domain at the NH 2 ‐terminal region that recognizes similar DNA sequences, termed IRF element (IRF‐E)/interferon‐stimulated response element (ISRE), present on the promoter of target genes. Recently, a sequence homologous to the ISRE has been identified downstream from the 5′ human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) long terminal repeat (LTR). This sequence is a binding site for IRF‐1 and IRF‐2. Here we briefly summarize the role of IRFs in the regulation of HIV‐1 LTR transcriptional activity and virus replication. The overall effect of IRFs on HIV‐1 replication will also be discussed in the context of strategies carried out by the virus to counteract the IFN‐mediated host defences both in active replication and during the establishment of viral latency.