Endogenous Reverse Transcription Research Articles

Kinetics of inhibition of endogenous human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcription by 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphate, tetrahydroimidazo-[4,5,1-jk][1,4]-benzodiazepin-2(1H)-thion e, and 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-(phenylthio)thymine derivatives.

Recently, tetrahydroimidazo-[4,5,1-jk][1,4]-benzodiazepin-2(1H)-one and -thione (TIBO) and 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-(phenylthio)thymine (HEPT) compounds have been shown to be potent, selective, and specific inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in vitro. They interact with the reverse transcriptase of HIV-1 in a way different from that of previously studied reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors. We established an endogenous RT assay, starting from intact HIV-1 virions. This assay mimics the reverse transcription process in the HIV-infected cell more closely than RT assays with artificial templates. We investigated the inhibition of endogenous HIV-1 reverse transcription by the TIBO derivative (+)-(S)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-5-methyl-6-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)imidazo [4,5,1-jk][1,4]-benzodiazepin-2(1H)-thione (R-82150) in comparison with the HEPT derivative 5-ethyl-1-ethoxymethyl-6-(phenylthio)uracil (E-EPU) and 2',3'-dideoxyguanosine 5'-triphosphate. The kinetics and characteristics of RT inhibition by TIBO in the endogenous RT assay were similar to those found previously for the exogenous RT assay (following addition of exogenous template/primer); thus, RT inhibition by TIBO was specific for HIV-1 and the extent of RT inhibition was dependent on which of the four substrates (dATP, dTTP, dGTP, and dCTP) was present in limited concentrations. Of the three enzymatic activities, RNA-dependent DNA polymerization was preferentially inhibited, and inhibition was not competitive with respect to the natural substrates. HIV-1 RT behaved as an allosteric enzyme, which means that positive cooperativity for binding of the substrate was observed. TIBO behaved as an allosteric inhibitor by causing a concentration-dependent decrease in this cooperativity.

Functional analysis of reverse transcription by a frameshift pol mutant of murine leukemia virus

Endogenous reverse transcription by wild-type murine leukemia virus (MuLV) was compared to that catalyzed by clone 23, a pol mutant containing a reverse transcriptase protein which lacks the carboxyl-terminal third of the molecule ( J. G. Levin, S. C. Hu, A. Rein, L. I. Messer, and B. I. Gerwin (1984), J. Virol. 51, 470–478). Competition immunoassays revealed that mutant virions contain normal amounts of polymerase protein, indicating that the lack of carboxyl-terminal sequences does not alter normal processing of enzyme precursors. Although the mutant enzyme was previously shown to have the ability to copy and degrade RNA:DNA hybrids, the present study demonstrates that it is defective in functions required to generate full-length copies of viral DNA. Analysis of products of endogenous reverse transcription showed that minus-strand strong-stop DNA is formed and that mutant virions synthesize a series of minus-strand DNA intermediates up to 2.2 kb in length. Comparison of mutant and wild-type MuLV reaction products indicated that the 2.2-kb termination site of the mutant corresponds to a normal pausing region for the wild-type enzyme. Computer analysis of sequences and structure within pausing regions suggested the involvement of C-rich consensus sequences plus multibranch loop structures in the general phenomenon of enzyme-pausing during reverse transcription.

A deletion mutation in the 5' part of the pol gene of Moloney murine leukemia virus blocks proteolytic processing of the gag and pol polyproteins

Deletion mutations in the 5' part of the pol gene of Moloney murine leukemia virus were generated by restriction enzyme site-directed mutagenesis of cloned proviral DNA. DNA sequence analysis indicated that one such deletion was localized entirely within the 5' part of the pol gene, did not affect the region encoding reverse transcriptase, and preserved the translational reading frame downstream of the mutation. The major viral precursor polyproteins (Pr65gag, Pr200gag-pol, and gPr80env) were synthesized at wild-type levels in cell lines carrying the mutant genome. These cell lines assembled and released wild-type levels of virion particles into the medium. Cleavage of both Pr65gag and Pr200gag-pol precursors to the mature proteins was completely blocked in the mutant virions. Surprisingly, these virions contained high levels of active reverse transcriptase; examination of the endogenous reverse transcription products synthesized by the mutant virions revealed normal amounts of minus-strand strong-stop DNA, indicating that the RNA genome was packaged and that reverse transcription in detergent-permeabilized virions was not significantly impaired. Processing of gPr80env to gP70env and P15E was not affected by the mutation, but cleavage of P15E to P12E was not observed. The mutant particles were poorly infectious; analysis indicated that infection was blocked at an early stage. The data are consistent with the idea that the 5' part of the pol gene encodes a protease directly responsible for processing Pr65gag, and possibly Pr200gag-pol, to the structural virion proteins. It appears that cleavage of the gag gene product is not required for budding and release of virions and that complete processing of the pol gene product to the mature form of reverse transcriptase is not required for its functional activation.

Mutations in gag proteins P12 and P15 of Moloney murine leukemia virus block early stages of infection

A collection of mutants of Moloney murine leukemia virus with deletions in the gag gene was generated by restriction enzyme site-directed mutagenesis of a cloned proviral DNA. The mutants all contained deletions of the NarI site in the P12 region, and some contained deletions extending into the adjacent P15 region. The deletions did not significantly affect the assembly or release of viral particles. Examination of endogenous reverse transcription products demonstrated normal synthesis of minus- and plus-strand strong-stop DNAs, indicating that the RNA genome was packaged and that reverse transcription in detergent-permeabilized virions was not impaired. The virion particles contained high levels of an abnormal protein which corresponded to a P15-P12 fusion protein; proteolytic processing of this abnormal protein was completely blocked by all the mutations. The infectivity of the particles was dramatically reduced. Analysis of the low-molecular-weight DNA in infected NIH/3T3 cells indicated that the mutant virions could not carry out viral DNA synthesis. These data suggest that the P12 and P15 proteins may not be critical for virion assembly but do play an important role in early steps of viral infection.

Synthesis of murine leukemia virus plus strong stop DNA initiates at a unique site.

The 5'-terminal segment of plus strong stop DNA has been isolated from an endogenous virion reverse transcription reaction and characterized. The plus strong stop DNA is shown to initiate with the sequence 5'AATGAAAGA.... The 5'-terminal nucleotide is a deoxyribonucleotide. No residual protein or RNA moiety was found attached to the plus strong stop DNA. Thus, the mechanism which primes plus strand synthesis is still unclear. No evidence for multiple initiation sites or heterogeneous starts is observed. This data indicates that the initiation of plus strong stop DNA synthesis by the virion RNA-dependent DNA polymerase is a precise event which occurs at a unique site on the retrovirus genome.