The Viral Quinta Columna Strategy: a new biological hypothesis to study infections in humans

Small viral proteins with cationic domains can be involved in multiple biological processes including cell penetration or interaction with intracellular targets. Within the last two decades several reports indicated that the C-terminus of HIV-1 Vpr is a cell penetrating sequence, a PP2A-dependent death domain and also displays toxicity against Gram-negative E. coli. Interestingly, HIV-1 Vpr, as well as some cationic proteins encoded by different viruses, share similar physical properties with the unique anti-microbial human cathelicidin LL37 peptide.
Source: Medical Hypotheses - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research