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HIV-1 Tat interaction with Dicer: requirement for RNA.

Bennasser Y, Jeang KT

Molecular Virology Section, Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0460, USA. ybennasser@mail.nih.gov

Dicer is an RNase III which processes two classes of cellular small RNAs: the microRNAs (miRNA) and short interfering RNAs (siRNA). Previously, we observed that over-expressed HIV-1 Tat protein can suppress the processing of small RNAs inside cells. Here, we have investigated the requirements for Tat interaction with Dicer. We report that Tat-Dicer interaction depends on RNA, requires the helicase domain of Dicer, and is independent of Tat's transactivation domain.

Published 5 January 2007 in Retrovirology, 3: 95.
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