The Rev of HIV-1 is essential for the replication of the viruses and i
s therefore a very attractive target for the development of antiviral
drugs. To establish a cell-based high-flux assay system for random scr
eening of Rev inhibitors, cells carrying both the Rev-expressing gene
and a Rev-inducible SeAP gene were generated by permanent transfection
. SeAP produced by these cells was 5-10-fold higher than that synthesi
zed by cells not carrying the Rev gene. Northern blot analysis demonst
rated that the increase in SeAP was due mainly to an increase in SeAP
transcripts, indicating the effect of Rev proteins synthesized by the
transfected cells. The assay system reported in this study should be u
seful for screening novel Rev inhibitors. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.
V.