Mechanism and factors that control HIV-1 transcription and latency activation

After reverse transcription, the HIV-1 proviral DNA is integrated into the host genome and thus subjected to transcription by the host RNA polymerase II (Pol II). With the identification and characterization of human P-TEFb in the late 1990s as a specific host cofactor required for HIV-1 transcription, it is now believed that the elongation stage of Pol II transcription plays a particularly important role in regulating HIV-1 gene expression. HIV-1 uses a sophisticated scheme to recruit human P-TEFb and other cofactors to the viral long terminal repeat (LTR) to produce full-length HIV-1 transcripts. In this process, P-TEFb is regulated by the reversible association with various transcription factors/ cofactors to form several multi-subunit complexes (e.g., 7SK snRNP, super elongation complexes (SECs), and the Brd4-P-TEFb complex) that collectively constitute a P-TEFb network for controlling cellular and HIV-1 transcription. Recent progresses in HIV-1 transcription were reviewed in the paper, with the emphasis on the mechanism and factors that control HIV-1 transcription and latency activation.