Document 3151
 DOCN  M94A3151
 TI    HIV 'tat' gene is homologous with regions in HSV and EBV suggesting
       possible basis for synergism.
 DT    9412
 AU    Smith RW; Inst. for Postgrad. Interdisc. Stud., Palo Alto, CA
       94306-0846.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):141 (abstract no. PA0185). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94369424
 AB    OBJECTIVE: Synergism among lentiviruses and herpesviruses (especially
       gamma herpesviruses) is well known but poorly understood. One report of
       superinfections with lentiviruses and herpesviruses suggests that
       herpesviruses may activate lentiviruses. We reported that tat and 5
       other HIV regulatory genes may account for the recessively functional
       slowly progressive features, with there being 6 homologues in a 10,366
       base pair region on 4p16.3 possibly accounting for recessively
       functional slowly progressive features of Huntington's disease. Because
       of dormant and latent features of some herpesviruses, we now inquire if
       tat and other HIV regulatory genes are homologous with regions in
       herpesviruses, especially in view of their synergism with the
       lentiviruses. METHODS: Genetic prospecting, a heuristic browsing tool
       combining FindSeq (sequence location algorithm), FastDB (fast pairwise
       sequence comparisons), CLUSTAL V (multiple sequence alignment), and
       TBLASTN (a basic local alignment search tool). RESULTS: Significant
       homologues of tat were found in EBV (smallest Poisson probability [sPp]
       = 0.46), HSV-1 (sPp = 0.014) and HSV-2 (sPp = 0.51). A homologue of tat
       also is found in a bovine herpesvirus (sPp = 0.26). DISCUSSION AND
       CONCLUSIONS: EBV and HSV are remarkable for their latent and productive
       phases. When combined with the finding of homologues of tat and other
       HIV genes implicated in recessive functions, this may account for
       dormant and latent phases while also explaining their synergism with
       lentiviruses. Synthesis and analysis of HIV homologues remains a subject
       for future investigation, as is the 'genetic prospecting' for other
       homologues relevant to slowly progressive features of lentiviruses or
       genetic diseases.
 DE    Algorithms  Base Sequence  Chromosome Mapping  Chromosomes, Human, Pair
       4  Comparative Study  *Genes, tat  *Genes, Regulator  *Genes, Viral
       Herpesvirus 1, Bovine  Herpesvirus 4, Human/*GENETICS  Human
       Huntington's Disease/GENETICS  HIV/*GENETICS  Lentivirus/*GENETICS
       Poisson Distribution  Probability  Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
       Simplexvirus/*GENETICS  MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).