scholarly journals Limiting deoxynucleoside triphosphate concentrations emphasize the processivity defect of lamivudine-resistant variants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase.

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 2484-2491 ◽  
Author(s):  
N K Back ◽  
B Berkhout

The nucleoside drug lamivudine (3TC) triggers the selection of resistant forms of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) with a substitution of amino acid 184Met. The 3TC-resistant RT enzymes 184Val and 184Ile exhibit a processivity defect in in vitro assays that correlates with reduced replication of the corresponding virus variants in primary cells. However, no replication defect is apparent for these two mutants in the transformed T-cell line SupT1. One obvious difference between the two cell types is the intracellular deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) level. Primary cells have a much smaller dNTP pool, and this cellular condition may emphasize the processivity defect of the codon 184 RT variants. Alternatively, cell-specific cofactors that influence the process of reverse transcription may exist. Such accessory factors may be packaged into the virion to exert an effect on the RT enzyme. To discriminate between these possibilities we performed additional assays with the wild-type and mutant RT enzymes. The RT proteins were either isolated from virions produced by primary and transformed cell types or expressed as recombinant protein. We also performed infection assays with cells treated with a drug that reduces the intracellular dNTP pool. Furthermore, reverse transcription was studied within virus particles in the endogenous assay, which allows for the manipulation of the dNTP level. The combined results indicate that the enzymatic defect of the 3TC-resistant HIV-1 variants is stressed at low dNTP concentrations.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (17) ◽  
pp. 7944-7955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriko Nakajima ◽  
Richard Lu ◽  
Alan Engelman

ABSTRACT Functional retroviral integrase protein is thought to be essential for productive viral replication. Yet, previous studies differed on the extent to which integrase mutant viruses expressed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genes from unintegrated DNA. Although one reason for this difference was that class II integrase mutations pleiotropically affected the viral life cycle, another reason apparently depended on the identity of the infected cell. Here, we analyzed integrase mutant viral infectivities in a variety of cell types. Single-round infectivity of class I integration-specific mutant HIV-1 ranged from <0.03 to 0.3% of that of the wild type (WT) across four different T-cell lines. Based on this approximately 10-fold influence of cell type on mutant gene expression, we examined class I and class II mutant replication kinetics in seven different cell lines and two primary cell types. Unexpectedly, some cell lines supported productive class I mutant viral replication under conditions that restricted class II mutant growth. Cells were defined as permissive, semipermissive, or nonpermissive based on their ability to support the continual passage of class I integration-defective HIV-1. Mutant infectivity in semipermissive and permissive cells as quantified by 50% tissue culture infectious doses, however, was only 0.0006 to 0.005% of that of WT. Since the frequencies of mutant DNA recombination in these lines ranged from 0.023 to <0.093% of the WT, we conclude that productive replication in the absence of integrase function most likely required the illegitimate integration of HIV-1 into host chromosomes by cellular DNA recombination enzymes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 2199-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhou ◽  
Haili Zhang ◽  
Janet D. Siliciano ◽  
Robert F. Siliciano

ABSTRACT In untreated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, most viral genomes in resting CD4+ T cells are not integrated into host chromosomes. This unintegrated virus provides an inducible latent reservoir because cellular activation permits integration, virus gene expression, and virus production. It remains controversial whether HIV-1 is stable in this preintegration state. Here, we monitored the fate of HIV-1 in resting CD4+ cells by using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter virus carrying an X4 envelope. After virus entry into resting CD4+ T cells, both rescuable virus gene expression, visualized with GFP, and rescuable virion production, assessed by p24 release, decayed with a half-life of 2 days. In these cells, reverse transcription goes to completion over 2 to 3 days, and 50% of the viruses that have entered undergo functional decay before reverse transcription is complete. We distinguished two distinct but closely related factors contributing to loss of rescuable virus. First, some host cells undergo virus-induced apoptosis upon viral entry, thereby reducing the amount of rescuable virus. Second, decay processes directly affecting the virus both before and after the completion of reverse transcription contribute to the loss of rescuable virus. The functional half-life of full-length, integration-competent reverse transcripts is only 1 day. We propose that rapid intracellular decay processes compete with early steps in viral replication in infected CD4+ T cells. Decay processes dominate in resting CD4+ T cells as a result of the slow kinetics of reverse transcription and blocks at subsequent steps. Therefore, the reservoir of unintegrated HIV-1 in recently infected resting CD4+ T cells is highly labile.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (23) ◽  
pp. 11710-11722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Guo ◽  
Shan Cen ◽  
Meijuan Niu ◽  
Jenan Saadatmand ◽  
Lawrence Kleiman

ABSTRACT Cells are categorized as being permissive or nonpermissive according to their ability to produce infectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) lacking the viral protein Vif. Nonpermissive cells express the human cytidine deaminase APOBEC3G (hA3G), and Vif has been shown to bind to APOBEC3G and facilitate its degradation. Vif-negative HIV-1 virions produced in nonpermissive cells incorporate hA3G and have a severely reduced ability to produce viral DNA in newly infected cells. While it has been proposed that the reduction in DNA production is due to hA3G-facilitated deamination of cytidine, followed by DNA degradation, we provide evidence here that a decrease in the synthesis of the DNA by reverse transcriptase may account for a significant part of this reduction. During the infection of cells with Vif-negative HIV-1 produced from 293T cells transiently expressing hA3G, much of the inhibition of early (≥50% reduction) and late (≥95% reduction) viral DNA production, and of viral infectivity (≥95% reduction), can occur independently of DNA deamination. The inhibition of the production of early minus-sense strong stop DNA is also correlated with a similar inability of tRNA3 Lys to prime reverse transcription. A similar reduction in tRNA3 Lys priming and viral infectivity is also seen in the naturally nonpermissive cell H9, albeit at significantly lower levels of hA3G expression.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (15) ◽  
pp. 7897-7902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenfeng An ◽  
Alice Telesnitsky

ABSTRACT Genetic recombination contributes to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) diversity, with homologous recombination being more frequent than nonhomologous recombination. In this study, HIV-1-based vectors were used to assay the effects of various extents of sequence divergence on the frequency of the recombination-related property of repeat deletion. Sequence variation, similar in degree to that which differentiates natural HIV-1 isolates, was introduced by synonymous substitutions into a gene segment. Repeated copies of this segment were then introduced into assay vectors. With the use of a phenotypic screen, the deletion frequency of identical repeats was compared to the frequencies of repeats that differed in sequence by various extents. During HIV-1 reverse transcription, the deletion frequency observed with repeats that differed by 5% was 65% of that observed with identical repeats. The deletion frequency decreased to 26% for repeats that differed by 9%, and when repeats differed by 18%, the deletion frequency was about 5% of the identical repeat value. Deletion frequencies fell to less than 0.3% of identical repeat values when genetic distances of 27% or more were examined. These data argue that genetic variation is not as inhibitory to HIV-1 repeat deletion as it is to the corresponding cellular process and suggest that, for sequences that differ by about 25% or more, HIV-1 recombination directed by sequence homology may be no more frequent than that which is homology independent.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (17) ◽  
pp. 9295-9304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Goujon ◽  
Loraine Jarrosson-Wuilleme ◽  
Jeanine Bernaud ◽  
Dominique Rigal ◽  
Jean-Luc Darlix ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Heterologous lentiviral vectors (LVs) represent a way to address safety concerns in the field of gene therapy by decreasing the possibility of genetic recombination between vector and packaging constructs and the generation of replication-competent viruses. Using described LVs based on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus MAC251 (SIVMAC251), we asked whether heterologous virion particles in which trans-acting factors belonged to HIV-1 and cis elements belonged to SIVMAC251 (HIV-siv) would behave as parental homologous vectors in all cell types. To our surprise, we found that although the heterologous HIV-siv vector was as infectious as its homologous counterpart in most human cells, it was defective in the transduction of dendritic cells (DCs) and, to a lesser extent, macrophages. In DCs, the main postentry defect was observed in the formation of two-long-terminal-repeat circles, despite the fact that full-length proviral DNA was being synthesized and was associated with the nucleus. Taken together, our data suggest that heterologous HIV-siv vectors display a cell-dependent infectivity defect, most probably at a post-nuclear entry migration step. As homologous HIV and SIV vectors do transduce DCs, we believe that these results underscore the importance of a conserved interaction between cis elements and trans-acting viral factors that is lost or suboptimal in heterologous vectors and essential only in the transduction of certain cell types. For gene therapy purposes, these findings indicate that the cellular tropism of LVs can be modulated not only through the use of distinct envelope proteins or tissue-specific promoters but also through the specific combinatorial use of packaging and transfer vector constructs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 3020-3030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebbe Sloth Andersen ◽  
Rienk E. Jeeninga ◽  
Christian Kroun Damgaard ◽  
Ben Berkhout ◽  
Jørgen Kjems

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) particle contains two identical RNA strands, each corresponding to the entire genome. The 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of each RNA strand contains extensive secondary and tertiary structures that are instrumental in different steps of the viral replication cycle. We have characterized the 5′ UTRs of nine different HIV-1 isolates representing subtypes A through G and, by comparing their homodimerization and heterodimerization potentials, found that complementarity between the palindromic sequences in the dimerization initiation site (DIS) hairpins is necessary and sufficient for in vitro dimerization of two subtype RNAs. The 5′ UTR sequences were used to design donor and acceptor templates for a coupled in vitro dimerization-reverse transcription assay. We showed that template switching during reverse transcription is increased with a matching DIS palindrome and further stimulated proportional to the level of homology between the templates. The presence of the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein NCp7 increased the template-switching efficiency for matching DIS palindromes twofold, whereas the recombination efficiency was increased sevenfold with a nonmatching palindrome. Since NCp7 did not effect the dimerization of nonmatching palindromes, we concluded that the protein most likely stimulates the strand transfer reaction. An analysis of the distribution of template-switching events revealed that it occurs throughout the 5′ UTR. Together, these results demonstrate that the template switching of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase occurs frequently in vitro and that this process is facilitated mainly by template proximity and the level of homology.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (16) ◽  
pp. 10356-10368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Lu ◽  
Hina Z. Ghory ◽  
Alan Engelman

ABSTRACT Results of in vitro assays identified residues in the C-terminal domain (CTD) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase (IN) important for IN-IN and IN-DNA interactions, but the potential roles of these residues in virus replication were mostly unknown. Sixteen CTD residues were targeted here, generating 24 mutant viruses. Replication-defective mutants were typed as class I (blocked at integration) or class II (additional reverse transcription and/or assembly defects). Most defective viruses (15 of 17) displayed reverse transcription defects. In contrast, replication-defective HIV-1E246K synthesized near-normal cDNA levels but processing of Pr55 g ag was largely inhibited in virus-producing cells. Because single-round HIV-1E246K.Luc(R-) transduced cells at approximately 8% of the wild-type level, we concluded that the late-stage processing defect contributed significantly to the overall replication defect of HIV-1E246K. Results of complementation assays revealed that the CTD could function in trans to the catalytic core domain (CCD) in in vitro assays, and we since determined that certain class I and class II mutants defined a novel genetic complementation group that functioned in cells independently of IN domain boundaries. Seven of eight novel Vpr-IN mutant proteins efficiently trans-complemented class I active-site mutant virus, demonstrating catalytically active CTD mutant proteins during infection. Because most of these mutants inefficiently complemented a class II CCD mutant virus, the majority of CTD mutants were likely more defective for interactions with cellular and/or viral components that affected reverse transcription and/or preintegration trafficking than the catalytic activity of the IN enzyme.


2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (23) ◽  
pp. 12058-12069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shewit S. Tekeste ◽  
Thomas A. Wilkinson ◽  
Ethan M. Weiner ◽  
Xiaowen Xu ◽  
Jennifer T. Miller ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHuman immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication requires reverse transcription of its RNA genome into a double-stranded cDNA copy, which is then integrated into the host cell chromosome. The essential steps of reverse transcription and integration are catalyzed by the viral enzymes reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN), respectively.In vitro, HIV-1 RT can bind with IN, and the C-terminal domain (CTD) of IN is necessary and sufficient for this binding. To better define the RT-IN interaction, we performed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments to map a binding surface on the IN CTD in the presence of RT prebound to a duplex DNA construct that mimics the primer-binding site in the HIV-1 genome. To determine the biological significance of the RT-IN interaction during viral replication, we used the NMR chemical shift mapping information as a guide to introduce single amino acid substitutions of nine different residues on the putative RT-binding surface in the IN CTD. We found that six viral clones bearing such IN substitutions (R231E, W243E, G247E, A248E, V250E, and I251E) were noninfectious. Further analyses of the replication-defective IN mutants indicated that the block in replication took place specifically during early reverse transcription. The recombinant INs purified from these mutants, though retaining enzymatic activities, had diminished ability to bind RT in a cosedimentation assay. The results indicate that the RT-IN interaction is functionally relevant during the reverse transcription step of the HIV-1 life cycle.IMPORTANCETo establish a productive infection, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) needs to reverse transcribe its RNA genome to create a double-stranded DNA copy and then integrate this viral DNA genome into the chromosome of the host cell. These two essential steps are catalyzed by the HIV-1 enzymes reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN), respectively. We have shown previously that IN physically interacts with RT, but the importance of this interaction during HIV-1 replication has not been fully characterized. In this study, we have established the biological significance of the HIV-1 RT-IN interaction during the viral life cycle by demonstrating that altering the RT-binding surface on IN disrupts both reverse transcription and viral replication. These findings contribute to our understanding of the RT-IN binding mechanism, as well as indicate that the RT-IN interaction can be exploited as a new antiviral drug target.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 2329-2339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Beerens ◽  
Ben Berkhout

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcription is primed by the cellular tRNA3 Lys molecule, which binds, with its 3"-terminal 18 nucleotides (nt), to a complementary sequence in the viral genome, the primer-binding site (PBS). Besides PBS-anti-PBS pairing, additional interactions between viral RNA sequences and the tRNA primer are thought to regulate the process of reverse transcription. We previously identified a novel 8-nt sequence motif in the U5 region of the HIV-1 RNA genome that is critical for tRNA3 Lys-mediated initiation of reverse transcription in vitro. This motif activates initiation from the natural tRNA3 Lys primer but is not involved in tRNA placement and was therefore termed primer activation signal (PAS). It was proposed that the PAS interacts with the anti-PAS motif in the TΨC arm of tRNA3 Lys. In this study, we analyzed several PAS-mutated viruses and performed reverse transcription assays with virion-extracted RNA-tRNA complexes. Mutation of the PAS reduced the efficiency of tRNA-primed reverse transcription. In contrast, mutations in the opposing leader sequence that trigger release of the PAS from base pairing stimulated reverse transcription. These results are similar to the reverse transcription effects observed in vitro. We also selected revertant viruses that partially overcome the reverse transcription defect of the PAS deletion mutant. Remarkably, all revertants acquired a single nucleotide substitution that does not restore the PAS sequence but that stimulates elongation of reverse transcription. These combined results indicate that the additional PAS-anti-PAS interaction is needed to assemble an initiation-competent and processive reverse transcription complex.


2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (8) ◽  
pp. 2171-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. King ◽  
Joan Baillie ◽  
John H. Sinclair

For some time there has been evidence suggesting an interaction between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the pathogenesis of AIDS. Here, the interaction of HCMV and HIV-1 was examined in monocyte/macrophage cells, two cell types known to be targets for both viruses in vivo. Infection experiments demonstrated that prior infection with HCMV impeded subsequent superinfection with HIV-1. In contrast, uninfected bystander cells within the population were still permissive for HIV-1 infection and were also found to express increased levels of Gag after HIV-1 superinfection. Analysis of CCR5, a co-receptor for HIV-1, on HCMV-infected and bystander cells showed a substantial loss of surface CCR5 expression on infected cells due to HCMV-induced reduction of total cellular CCR5. In contrast, uninfected bystander cells displayed increased surface CCR5 expression. Furthermore, the data suggested that soluble factor(s) secreted from HCMV-infected cells were responsible for the observed upregulation of CCR5 on uninfected bystander cells. Taken together, these results suggest that, whilst HCMV-infected monocytes/macrophages are refractory to infection with HIV-1, HCMV-uninfected bystander cells within a population are more susceptible to HIV-1 infection. On this basis, HCMV infection may contribute to the pathogenesis of HIV-1.


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