The role of the tnv protein and tnv RNA splicing signals in replication of HIV-1 IIIB isolates.

The requirement for tnv, a tat-env-rev fusion protein expressed by the IIIB strain of HIV-1, was tested. The expression of tnv was prevented by altering the 5' splice site that flanks the central coding exon of tnv. Mutants that carry such an altered 5' splice site replicate normally in an established T-cell line and in peripheral blood lymphocytes, demonstrating that tnv has no effect on virus replication. However, two mutants that carry an alteration in the 3' splice site of the same exon are replication defective. The 3' splice site mutations result in significant reduction in the expression of the 16-kDa tat protein and induce the expression of large amounts of a 19-kDa rev-related protein that initiates within the central coding exon of tnv. S1 nuclease analysis reveals that splicing to the central tnv exon occurs with substantially increased efficiency via the use of an alternate 3' splice site six nucleotides 3' from the mutated site. The effect of the 3' splice site mutations on viral protein expression and replication are fully reversed by a second site mutation that eliminates the alternate splice site.