A stepwise model for asp gene emergence across HIV and SIV lineages: progressive stop-codon loss and regulatory evolution
Background The antisense protein (ASP), encoded by an open reading frame (ORF) overlapping the env gene in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), was proposed over 30 years ago. ASP is an ∼189-amino-acid-long, highly hydrophobic protein with proposed roles in autophagy and viral entry. Although primarily described in pand...