Major-histocompatibility-complex (MHC) proteins are used to display, on the surface of a cell, peptides derived from foreign material - such as a virus - that is infecting that cell. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes then recognize and kill the infected cell. The HIV-1 Nef protein downregulates the cell-surface expression of class I MHC proteins, and probably thereby promotes immune evasion by HIV-1. In the presence of Nef, class I MHC molecules are relocalized from the cell surface to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) through as-yet-unknown mechanisms. Here we show that Nef-induced downregulation of MHC-I expression and MHC-I targeting to the TGN require the binding of Nef to PACS-1, a molecule that controls the TGN localization of the cellular protein furin. This interaction is dependent on Nef's cluster of acidic amino acids. A chimaeric integral membrane protein containing Nef as its cytoplasmic domain localizes to the TGN after internalization, in an acidic-cluster- and PACS-1-dependent manner. These results support a model in which Nef relocalizes MHC-I by acting as a connector between MHC-I's cytoplasmic tail and the PACS-1-dependent protein-sorting pathway.

The CD4-mediated 'envelope interference' described here probably explains the plurality of mechanisms developed by HIV to downregulate the cell-surface expression of its receptor.

The HIV Nef protein down-regulates the cell surface expression of CD4 and of MHC I at least in part through accelerated endocytosis. To investigate further the mechanism of this effect, we created chimeric integral membrane proteins comprising the extracellular and transmembrane regions of CD4 or CD8 and Nef as the cytoplasmic domain. These fusion molecules could down-modulate CD4 in trans in a dileucine-dependent manner. Furthermore, in spite of lacking receptor-derived internalization signals, the Nef-containing chimeras underwent both Golgi retention and rapid endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits. Taken together, these data suggest that Nef down-regulates CD4 and probably MHC I by physically connecting these receptors with sorting pathways in the Golgi and at the plasma membrane.

The sequence of events leading to clathrin-coated pit (CCP) nucleation on the cell surface and to the incorporation of receptors into these endocytic structures is still imperfectly understood. In particular, the question remains as to whether receptor tails initiate the assembly of the coat proteins or whether receptors migrate into preformed CCP. This question was approached through a dissection of the mechanisms implemented by Nef, an early protein of human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV and SIV, respectively), to accelerate the endocytosis of cluster of differentiation antigen type 4 (CD4), the major receptor for these viruses. Results collected showed that: (a) Nef promotes CD4 internalization via an increased association of CD4 with CCP; (b) the Nef-mediated increase of CD4 association with CCP is related to a doubling of the plasma membrane area occupied by clathrin-coated structures; (c) this increased CCP number at the plasma membrane has functional consequences preferentially on CD4 uptake and does not significantly affect transferrin receptor internalization or fluid-phase endocytosis; (d) the presence of a CD4 cytoplasmic tail including a critical dileucine motif is required to induce CCP formation via Nef; and (e) when directly anchored to the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane, Nef itself can promote CCP formation. Taken together, these observations lead us to propose that CD4 can promote CCP generation via the connector molecule Nef. In this model, Nef interacts on one side with CD4 through a dileucine-based motif present on CD4 cytoplasmic tail and on the other side with components of clathrin-coated surface domain (i.e., adaptins). These Nef-generated complexes would then initiate the nucleation of CCP.

The Nef protein of primate lentiviruses triggers the accelerated endocytosis of CD4 and of class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC-I), thereby down-modulating the cell surface expression of these receptors. Nef acts as a connector between the CD4 cytoplasmic tail and intracellular sorting pathways both in the Golgi and at the plasma membrane, triggering the de novo formation of CD4-specific clathrin-coated pits (CCP). The downstream partners of Nef in this event are the adapter protein complex (AP) of CCP and possibly a subunit of the vacuolar ATPase. Whether Nef-induced MHC-I down-regulation stems from a similar mechanism is unknown. By comparing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Nef mutants for their ability to affect either CD4 or MHC-I expression, both in transient-transfection assays and in the context of HIV-1 infection, it was determined that Nef-induced CD4 and MHC-I down-regulation constitute genetically and functionally separate properties. Mutations affecting only CD4 regulation mapped to residues previously shown to mediate the binding of Nef to this receptor, such as W57 and L58, as well as to an AP-recruiting dileucine motif and to an acidic dipeptide in the C-terminal region of the protein. In contrast, mutation of residues in an alpha-helical region in the proximal portion of Nef and amino acid substitutions in a proline-based SH3 domain-binding motif selectively affected MHC-I down-modulation. Although both the N-terminal alpha-helix and the proline-rich region of Nef have been implicated in recruiting Src family protein kinases, the inhibitor herbimycin A did not block MHC-I down-regulation, suggesting that the latter process is not mediated through an activation of this family of tyrosine kinases.