EARLY FUNCTION OF HIV-1 GAG PROTEINS IS CELL-DEPENDENT

Various gag gene mutants of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1 ) were monitored for their replication potentials and defective replic ation sites in various CD4-positive T-cell lines. Some matrix, capsid, and nucleocapsid mutants displayed a replication defect in a cell-dep endent manner, The single-round replication assays demonstrated that t hese mutants were defective at an early infection phase also in a cell -dependent way, These results indicated that interaction of a cell fac tor(s) and Gag proteins is involved in an early process of HIV-1 repli cation. (C) 1998 Academic Press.