Comparative analysis of retroviral Gag-host cell interactions: focus on the nuclear interactome

Abstract

Retroviruses exploit a variety of host proteins to assemble and release virions from infected cells. To date, most studies that examined possible interacting partners of retroviral Gag proteins focused on host proteins that localize primarily to the cytoplasm or plasma membrane. Given the recent findings that several full-length Gag proteins localize to the nucleus, identifying the Gag-nuclear interactome has high potential for novel findings that reveal previously unknown host processes. In this study, we systematically compared nuclear factors identified in published HIV-1 proteomic studies which had used a variety of experimental approaches. In addition, to contribute to this body of knowledge, we report results from a mass spectrometry approach using affinity-tagged (His6) HIV-1 and RSV Gag proteins mixed with nuclear extracts. Taken together, the previous studies--as well as our own--identified potential binding partners of HIV-1 and RSV Gag involved in several nuclear processes, including transcription, splicing, RNA modification, and chromatin remodeling. Although a subset of host proteins interacted with both Gag proteins, there were also unique host proteins belonging to each interactome dataset. To validate one of the novel findings, we demonstrated the interaction of RSV Gag with a member of the Mediator complex, Med26, which is required for RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription. These results provide a strong premise for future functional studies to investigate roles for these nuclear host factors that may have shared functions in the biology of both retroviruses, as well as functions specific to RSV and HIV-1, given their distinctive hosts and molecular pathology.