The Presence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Vpr Correlates with a Decrease in the Frequency of Mutations in a Plasmid Shuttle Vector

Abstract

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Vpr protein induces cell cycle arrest at the border of G 2 and M similar to the arrest caused by agents which damage DNA. We determined whether the presence of Vpr would affect the ability of cells to repair DNA. We developed a shuttle vector system to analyze the effect of Vpr upon the repair of UV-damaged DNA. Our results demonstrated that the presence of Vpr decreased the rate of deletions in this system. Of note, cells arrested in G 2 by other genotoxic agents also increased the frequency of DNA repair of UV-damaged shuttle vectors. We did not observe any direct effect of Vpr upon the rate of double-strand break repair and/or nucleotide excision repair of genomic DNA in cells. Our results suggest a role for HIV-1 Vpr in altering the frequency of DNA repair, a property which may have importance for HIV-1 replication and pathogenesis.