Viruses. 2010 Oct 01;2(10):2226-2234. doi: 10.3390/v2102226.
Viruses
Iván D'Orso, Alan D Frankel
PMID: 21709748 PMCID: PMC3120229 DOI: 10.3390/v2102226
HIV-1 transcription is regulated at the level of elongation by the viral Tat protein together with the cellular elongation factor P-TEFb, which is composed of cyclin T1 and Cdk9 subunits. The crystal structure of a Tat:P-TEFb complex (Tahirov, T.H.; Babayeva, N.D.; Varzavand, K.; Cooper, J.J.; Sedore, S.C.; and Price, D.H. Crystal structure of HIV-1 Tat complexed with human P-TEFb. Nature2010, 465, 747-751) reveals molecular details of Tat and its interactions that have eluded investigators for more than two decades and provides provocative insights into the mechanism of Tat activation.