Sequences up- and down-stream of the DIS hairpin are important for HIV-1 replication

Nikki Van Bel,Atze T Das,Ben Berkhout

doi:10.1186/1742-4690-8-s2-p68

Nikki Van Bel, Atze T Das + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4690-8-s2-p68

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Abstract

Background Infectious HIV-1 virions contain two copies of the viral RNA genome, which are non-covalently linked through sequence elements in the 5’untranslated leader region (5’UTR). This leader region is highly structured and can expose the Dimerization Initiation Signal (DIS) in a stem-loop structure. Because of the palindromic nature of the hairpin loop, a kissing-loop dimer (KLD) interaction between two DIS elements can initiate dimer formation in vitro and subsequent RNA rearrangements can result in a more stable extended dimer (ED). Unpublished findings from our laboratory suggested that the unpaired nucleotides that flank the DIS stemloop element may have a role in HIV-1 dimer formation. We therefore probed the function of these sequences during HIV-1 replication.

Highlights

Infectious HIV-1 virions contain two copies of the viral RNA genome, which are non-covalently linked through sequence elements in the 5’untranslated leader region (5’UTR)
Sequences up- and down-stream of the Dimerization Initiation Signal (DIS) hairpin are important for HIV-1 replication
Unpublished findings from our laboratory suggested that the unpaired nucleotides that flank the DIS stemloop element may have a role in HIV-1 dimer formation

Summary

Introduction

Infectious HIV-1 virions contain two copies of the viral RNA genome, which are non-covalently linked through sequence elements in the 5’untranslated leader region (5’UTR). Sequences up- and down-stream of the DIS hairpin are important for HIV-1 replication Nikki van Bel*, Atze T Das, Ben Berkhout From Frontiers of Retrovirology 2011 Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Background Infectious HIV-1 virions contain two copies of the viral RNA genome, which are non-covalently linked through sequence elements in the 5’untranslated leader region (5’UTR).

Results

Conclusion