Search

We have recently described the molecular basis of HIV-1 resistance factor (HRF)-mediated anti-viral activity in primary and transformed CD4 T cells. HRF(+) cell culture supernatants or partially purified HRF were found to incapacitate the formation of the NF-κB/DNA complex, which is indispensable for long terminal promoter-driven transcription of virus genes. In this study, we tested whether HRF might have much broader activity against other organisms whose pathogenesis is linked to NF-κB activation. Specifically, we tested the effects of HRF on the NF-κB-mediated responses of primary macrophages to HIV-1 or several bacterial antigens. We found that exposure to HRF inhibited HIV-1 expression in macrophages and also induced the production of HRF-like activity by macrophages, which prevented replication of virus in HIV-1-infected peripheral blood lymphocytes cultured in the adjacent compartment. We investigated the mechanism of this inhibition and found that HRF impeded NF-κB/DNA binding in macrophages induced by either HIV-1 or lipopolysaccharide from several bacteria species, resulting in impaired tumor necrosis factor-alpha responses to these organisms.Immunology and Cell Biology (2007) 85, 603–609; doi:10.1038/sj.icb.7100092; published online 17 July 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]