Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has a complex life cycle in which both cellular and virus-encoded factors participate to determine the level of virus production. Two of the viral genes, tat and rev, are essential for virus replication and encode novel trans-activators that interact specifically with their cognate RNA target elements. Elucidation of their mechanisms of action is likely to expand our knowledge of gene regulation at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels in the eukaryotic cell. Several viral genes (vif, vpu, and vpr) facilitate virus infection and/or release and may play a role in target cell tropism and infection in vivo. The functions of yet other viral genes (nef, vpt) remain unclear. Recent data also suggest that the tat gene product may have a role in HIV pathogenesis that goes beyond trans-activating virus expression. It can potentially impact on uninfected cells as a diffusible molecule and alter the growth of different cell types.