EXPRESSION OF HIV-1 TAT GENE UNDER THE CO NTROL OF A 7.5-KD VACCINIA VIRUS PROMOTER IN CV-1 CELLS

The transient expression of the HIV-1 gag genes and a HIV-1 transactiv ator protein (tat)-encoded was made in cultured CV-1 cells. In recombi nant plasmids, the gag gene was under the control of HIV-1 transactiva tor sequence (tar) and the tat gene was under the control of a 7.5-kd vaccinia promoter. Transactivation of gag gene expression, which was s timulated by a tat gene expression product, was observed in the presen ce of wild vaccinia virus. The transaction was immunologically evaluat ed from the binding to monoclonal anti-p17 and anti-p24 antibodies. Th e findings lead to the discussion whether the regulatory proteins of H IV-1 can express in vaccinia virus vectors.