Nucleoporin 85 is Crucial for Nuclear Import of HIV-1

Gaudette, James

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Nucleoporin 85 is Crucial for Nuclear Import of HIV-1

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Because HIV and other lentiviruses can uniquely stably replicate within non-dividing cells, we hypothesized that lentiviruses must utilize a special mechanism allowing them to interact with host cell nuclear pore complexes, thus granting the HIV pre-integration complex (PIC) access to the nucleoplasm by a common nuclear import process. To prove this hypothesis, we performed RNAi-mediated knockdown screening of several nuclear pore complex proteins. This led to the identification of nucleoporin-85 (nup85) as indispensable for HIV replication in macrophages. To eliminate siRNA non-specific events as contributory to the observed inhibition, an siRNA resistant mutant nup85 was created in order to rescue replication.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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