Marziali, Federico Emanuel; Bugnon Valdano, Marina Paula; Brunet Avalos, Clarise; Moriena, Lucía; Cavatorta, Ana Laura; Gardiol, Daniela
Description:
Human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-1 Tax (Tax) protein is very important in viral
replication and cell transformation. Tax localizes in the nucleus and cytoplasm in association with
organelles. Some activities of Tax depend on interactions with PDZ (PSD-95/Discs Large/Z0-1)
domain–containing proteins such as Discs large protein 1 (DLG1) which is involved in cell polarity
and proliferation. The DLG1 interaction results in a cytoplasmic co-localization pattern resembling
vesicular aggregates, the nature of which is still unknown. To further explore the role of PDZ proteins
in HTLV-1 cell transformation, we deeply investigated the Tax-DLG1 association. By fluorescence
resonance energy transfer (FRET), we detected, for the first time, the direct binding of Tax to DLG1
within the cell. We showed that the interaction specifically affects the cellular distribution of not only
DLG1, but also Tax. After studying different cell structures, we demonstrated that the aggregates
distribute into the Golgi apparatus in spatial association with the microtubule-organizing center
(MTOC). This study contributes to understand the biological significance of Tax-PDZ interactions