HTLV-1 Tax Mediated Downregulation of miRNAs Associated with Chromatin Remodeling Factors in T Cells with Stably Integrated Viral Promoter

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural cellular mechanism to silence gene expression and is predominantly mediated by microRNAs (miRNAs) that target messenger RNA. Viruses can manipulate the cellular processes necessary for their replication by targeting the host RNAi machinery. This study explores the effect of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) transactivating protein Tax on the RNAi pathway in the context of a chromosomally integrated viral long terminal repeat (LTR) using a CD4+ T-cell line, Jurkat. Transcription factor profiling of the HTLV-1 LTR stably integrated T-cell clone transfected with Tax demonstrates increased activation of substrates and factors associated with chromatin remodeling complexes. Using a miRNA microarray and bioinformatics experimental approach, Tax was also shown to downregulate the expression of miRNAs associated with the translational regulation of factors required for chromatin remodeling. These observations were validated with selected miRNAs and an HTLV-1 infected T cells line, MT-2. miR-149 and miR-873 were found to be capable of directly targeting p300 and p/CAF, chromatin remodeling factors known to play critical role in HTLV-1 pathogenesis. Overall, these results are first in line establishing HTLV-1/Tax-miRNA-chromatin concept and open new avenues toward understanding retroviral latency and/or replication in a given cell type

Involvement of the cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein in bovine leukemia virus expression in vivo.

The TAR element (Tax-responsive element; also called TxRE) is a major determinant of the regulation of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) expression. In order to gain insight into the mechanisms of viral expression, complexes formed between proteins and the TAR enhancer DNA were analyzed by gel retardation assays. We report here that nuclear lysates from ex vivo-isolated B lymphocytes contain proteins that specifically bind to TAR. An antibody directed toward the cyclic AMP-responsive element binding (CREB) protein supershifted a complex (C1) present only in BLV-infected B lymphocytes. The CREB protein thus appears to be a major transcription factor involved in BLV expression in vivo

Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1-Infected T Lymphocytes Impair Catabolism and Uptake of Glutamate by Astrocytes via Tax-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the causative agent of a chronic progressive myelopathy called tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM). In this disease, lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) are associated with perivascular infiltration by lymphocytes. We and others have hypothesized that these T lymphocytes infiltrating the CNS may play a prominent role in TSP/HAM. Here, we show that transient contact of human or rat astrocytes with T lymphocytes chronically infected by HTLV-1 impairs some of the major functions of brain astrocytes. Uptake of extracellular glutamate by astrocytes was significantly decreased after transient contact with infected T cells, while the expression of the glial transporters GLAST and GLT-1 was decreased. In two-compartment cultures avoiding direct cell-to-cell contact, similar results were obtained, suggesting possible involvement of soluble factors, such as cytokines and the viral protein Tax-1. Recombinant Tax-1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) decreased glutamate uptake by astrocytes. Tax-1 probably acts by inducing TNF-α, as the effect of Tax-1 was abolished by anti-TNF-α antibody. The expression of glutamate-catabolizing enzymes in astrocytes was increased for glutamine synthetase and decreased for glutamate dehydrogenase, the magnitudes of these effects being correlated with the level of Tax-1 transcripts. In conclusion, Tax-1 and cytokines produced by HTLV-1-infected T cells impair the ability of astrocytes to manage the steady-state level of glutamate, which in turn may affect neuronal and oligodendrocytic functions and survival