scholarly journals Relative Fitness and Replication Capacity of a Multinucleoside Analogue-Resistant Clinical Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Isolate with a Deletion of Codon 69 in the Reverse Transcriptase Coding Region

2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 4713-4721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Villena ◽  
Julia G. Prado ◽  
Maria Carmen Puertas ◽  
Miguel Ángel Martínez ◽  
Bonaventura Clotet ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Deletions, insertions, and amino acid substitutions in the β3-β4 hairpin loop-coding region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) have been associated with resistance to nucleoside RT inhibitors when appearing in combination with other mutations in the RT-coding region. In this work, we have measured the in vivo fitness of HIV-1 variants containing a deletion of 3 nucleotides affecting codon 69 (Δ69) of the viral RT as well as the replication capacity (RC) ex vivo of a series of recombinant HIV-1 variants carrying an RT bearing the Δ69 deletion or the T69A mutation in a multidrug-resistant (MDR) sequence background, including the Q151M complex and substitutions M184V, K103N, Y181C, and G190A. Patient-derived viral clones having RTs with Δ69 together with S163I showed increased RCs under drug pressure. These data were consistent with the viral population dynamics observed in a long-term-treated HIV-1-infected patient. In the absence of drugs, viral clones containing T69A replicated more efficiently than those having Δ69, but only when patient-derived sequences corresponding to RT residues 248 to 527 were present. These effects could be attributed to a functional interaction between the C-terminal domain of the p66 subunit (RNase H domain) and the DNA polymerase domain of the RT. Finally, recombinant HIV-1 clones bearing RTs with MDR-associated mutations, including deletions at codon 69, showed increased susceptibilities to protease inhibitors in phenotypic assays. These effects correlated with impaired Gag cleavage and could be attributed to delayed maturation and decreased production of active protease in those variants.

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 3221-3231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsu-Chen Chiu ◽  
Szu-Yung Yao ◽  
Chin-Tien Wang

ABSTRACT Incorporation of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag-Pol into virions is thought to be mediated by the N-terminal Gag domain via interaction with the Gag precursor. However, one recent study has demonstrated that the murine leukemia virus Pol can be incorporated into virions independently of Gag-Pol expression, implying a possible interaction between the Pol and Gag precursor. To test whether the HIV-1 Pol can be incorporated into virions on removal of the N-terminal Gag domain and to define sequences required for the incorporation of Gag-Pol into virions in more detail, a series of HIV Gag-Pol expression plasmids with various extensive deletions in the region upstream of the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain was constructed, and viral incorporation of the Gag-Pol deletion mutants was examined by cotransfecting 293T cells with a plasmid expressing Pr55 gag . Analysis indicated that deletion of the N-terminal two-thirds of the gag coding region did not significantly affect the incorporation of Gag-Pol into virions. In contrast, Gag-Pol proteins with deletions covering the capsid (CA) major homology regions and the adjacent C-terminal CA regions were impaired with respect to assembly into virions. However, Gag-Pol with sequences deleted upstream of the protease, or of the RT domain but retaining 15 N-terminal gag codons, could still be rescued into virions at a level about 20% of the wild-type level. When assayed in a nonmyristylated Gag-Pol context, all of the Gag-Pol deletion mutants were incorporated into virions at a level comparable to their myristylated counterparts, suggesting that the incorporation of the Gag-Pol deletion mutants into virions is independent of the N-terminal myristylation signal.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 2657-2664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando A. Frankel ◽  
Bruno Marchand ◽  
Dan Turner ◽  
Matthias Götte ◽  
Mark A. Wainberg

ABSTRACT The L74V and M184V mutations in the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are frequently associated with resistance to the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors abacavir, didanosine, and lamivudine. Yet viruses containing any of these mutations often display hypersusceptibility to zidovudine (ZDV). Two distinct mechanisms have been described to explain HIV-1 drug resistance. One of these involves diminished rates of incorporation of the nucleotide analogue by mutated RT, while the other mechanism involves increased rates of phosphorolytic excision of the drug-terminated primer. To understand the biochemical mechanisms responsible for the hypersensitization of L74V-containing viruses to ZDV, we studied the efficiency of excision of ZDV-monophosphate (ZDV-MP)-terminated primers by recombinant wild-type and mutated HIV-1 RTs in cell-free assays. We observed that the L74V mutation in RT caused reductions in ATP-dependent removal of ZDV-MP from newly synthesized viral DNA. In addition, we determined that the L74V and M184V mutations did not affect the ratio between the populations of RT-DNA/DNA complexes found at pre- and posttranslocational stages; however, they might have affected proper alignment between incorporated chain terminator and pyrophosphate donor, substrate orientation, affinity for ATP, and/or primer-template substrate. Finally, we confirmed previous findings that L74V-containing viruses display diminished replication capacity and that this is associated with reduced levels of synthesis of early reverse-transcribed viral DNA molecules.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (13) ◽  
pp. 7089-7096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alok Mulky ◽  
Stefan G. Sarafianos ◽  
Edward Arnold ◽  
Xiaoyun Wu ◽  
John C. Kappes

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) is a heterodimer comprised of two structurally distinct subunits (p51 and p66). Since p51 and p66 are derived from the same coding region, subunit-specific structure-function studies of RT have been conducted exclusively by in vitro biochemical approaches. To study RT subunit function in the context of infectious virus, we constructed an LTR-vpr-p51-IRES-p66 expression cassette in which the HIV-1 vpr gene was fused in frame with p51, followed by an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) sequence and the p66 coding region. By coexpression with RT-deficient proviral DNA, we demonstrated that the p66 subunit is specifically and selectively packaged into virions as a Vpr-p51/p66 complex. Our analysis showed that cleavage by the viral protease liberates Vpr and generates functional heterodimeric RT (p51/p66) that supports HIV-1 reverse transcription and virus infection. By exploiting this novel trans-complementation approach, we demonstrated, for the first time with infectious virions, that the YMDD aspartates of p66 are both required and sufficient for RT polymerase function. Mutational analyses of the p51 YMDD aspartates indicated that they play an important structural role in p51 folding and subunit interactions that are required for the formation of an active RT heterodimer within infected cells. Understanding the role of the individual RT subunits in RNA- and DNA-dependent DNA synthesis is integral to our understanding of RT function. Our findings will lead to important new insights into the role of the p51 and p66 subunits in HIV-1 reverse transcription.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (16) ◽  
pp. 8621-8632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karidia Diallo ◽  
Bruno Marchand ◽  
Xin Wei ◽  
Luciano Cellai ◽  
Matthias Götte ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The emergence of drug resistance-conferring mutations can severely compromise the success of chemotherapy directed against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The M184V and/or L74V mutation in the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene are frequently found in viral isolates from patients treated with the nucleoside RT inhibitors lamivudine (3TC), abacavir (ABC), and didanosine (ddI). However, the effectiveness of combination therapy with regimens containing these compounds is often not abolished in the presence of these mutations; it has been conjectured that diminished fitness of HIV-1 variants containing L74V and M184V may contribute to sustained antiviral effects in such cases. We have determined that viruses containing both L74V and M184V are more impaired in replication capacity than viruses containing either mutation alone. To understand the biochemical mechanisms responsible for this diminished fitness, we generated a series of recombinant mutated enzymes containing either or both of the L74V and M184V substitutions. These enzymes were tested for their abilities to bypass important rate-limiting steps during the complex process of reverse transcription. We studied both the initiation of minus-strand DNA synthesis with the cognate replication primer human tRNA3 Lys and the initiation of plus-strand DNA synthesis, using a short RNA primer derived from the viral polypurine tract. We observed that the efficiencies of both reactions were diminished with enzymes containing either L74V or M184V and that these effects were significantly amplified with the double mutant. We also show that release from intrinsic pausing sites during reverse transcription appears to be a major obstacle that cannot be efficiently bypassed. Our data suggest that the efficiency of RNA-primed DNA synthesis represents an important consideration that can affect viral replication kinetics.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 6293-6298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Olivares ◽  
Víctor Sánchez-Merino ◽  
Miguel A. Martínez ◽  
Esteban Domingo ◽  
Cecilio López-Galíndez ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Nonconservative substitutions for Tyr-115 in the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) lead to enzymes displaying lower affinity for deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) (A. M. Martı́n-Hernández, E. Domingo, and L. Menéndez-Arias, EMBO J. 15:4434–4442, 1996). Several mutations at this position (Y115W, Y115L, Y115A, and Y115D) were introduced in an infectious HIV-1 clone, and the replicative capacity of the mutant viruses was monitored. Y115W was the only mutant able to replicate in MT-4 cells, albeit very poorly. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the progeny virus recovered from supernatants of four independent transfection experiments showed that the Y115W mutation was maintained. However, in all cases an additional substitution in the primer grip of the RT (M230I) emerged when the virus increased its replication capacity. Using recombinant HIV-1 RT, we demonstrate that M230I mitigates the polymerase activity defect of the Y115W mutant, by increasing the dNTP binding affinity of the enzyme. The second-site suppressor effects observed were mediated by mutations in the 66-kDa subunit of the RT, as demonstrated with chimeric heterodimers. Examination of available crystal structures of HIV-1 RT suggests a possible mechanism for restoration of enzyme activity by the second-site revertant.


2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 2772-2781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijun Zhang ◽  
Michelle Walker ◽  
Wen Xu ◽  
Jae Hoon Shim ◽  
Jean-Luc Girardet ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mutations in and around the catalytic site of the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are associated with resistance to nucleoside RT inhibitors (NRTIs), whereas changes in the hydrophobic pocket of the RT are attributed to nonnucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance. In this study, we report a novel series of nonnucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1, exemplified by VRX-329747 and VRX-413638, which inhibit both NNRTI- and NRTI-resistant HIV-1 isolates. Enzymatic studies indicated that these compounds are HIV-1 RT inhibitors. Surprisingly, however, following prolonged (6 months) tissue culture selection, this series of nonnucleoside inhibitors did not select NNRTI-resistant mutations in HIV-1 RT. Rather, four mutations (M41L, A62T/V, V118I, and M184V) known to cause resistance to NRTIs and two additional novel mutations (S68N and G112S) adjacent to the catalytic site of the enzyme were selected. Although the M184V mutation appears to be the initial mutation to establish resistance, this mutation alone confers only a two- to fourfold decrease in susceptibility to VRX-329747 and VRX-413638. At least two additional mutations must accumulate for significant resistance. Moreover, while VRX-329747-selected viruses are resistant to lamivudine and emtricitabine due to the M184V mutation, they remain susceptible to zidovudine, stavudine, dideoxyinosine, abacavir, tenofovir, and efavirenz. These results directly demonstrate that VRX-329747 and VRX-413638 are novel nonnucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 RT with the potential to augment current therapies.


1999 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gadi Borkow ◽  
Dominique Arion ◽  
Mark A. Wainberg ◽  
Michael A. Parniak

ABSTRACT N-[4-Chloro-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyloxy)phenyl]-2-methyl-3-furancarbothioamide (UC781) is an exceptionally potent nonnucleoside inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase. We found that a 1:1 molar combination of UC781 and 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine (AZT) showed high-level synergy in inhibiting the replication of AZT-resistant virus, implying that UC781 can restore antiviral activity to AZT against AZT-resistant HIV-1. Neither the nevirapine plus AZT nor the 2′,5′-bis-O-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)-3′-spiro-5"-(4"-amino-1",2"-oxathiole-2",2"-dioxide plus AZT combinations had this effect. Studies with purified HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (from a wild type and an AZT-resistant mutant) showed that UC781 was a potent inhibitor of the pyrophosphorolytic cleavage of nucleotides from the 3′ end of the DNA polymerization primer, a process that we have proposed to be critical for the phenotypic expression of AZT resistance. Combinations of UC781 plus AZT did not act in synergy to inhibit the replication of either wild-type virus or UC781-resistant HIV-1. Importantly, the time to the development of viral resistance to combinations of UC781 plus AZT is significantly delayed compared to the time to the development of resistance to either drug alone.


1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 412-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Chamorro ◽  
M-J Camarasa ◽  
M-J Pérez-Pérez ◽  
E de Clercq ◽  
J Balzarini ◽  
...  

Novel derivatives of the potent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitor TSAO-T have been designed, synthesized and tested for their in vitro antiretro-viral activity against HIV. These TSAO-T derivatives have been designed as potential bidentate inhibitors of HIV-1 RT, which combine in their structure the functionality of a non-nucleoside RT inhibitor (TSAO-T) and a bivalent ion-chelating moiety (a β-diketone moiety) linked through an appropriate spacer to the N-3 of thymine of TSAO-T . Some of the new compounds have an anti-HIV-1 activity comparable to that of the parent compound TSAO-T, but display a markedly increased antiviral selectivity. There was a clear relationship between antiviral activity and the length of the spacer group that links the TSAO molecule with the chelating moiety. A shorter spacer invariably resulted in increased antiviral potency. None of the TSAO-T derivatives were endowed with anti-HIV-2 activity.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 3248-3256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. Boyer ◽  
Stefan G. Sarafianos ◽  
Edward Arnold ◽  
Stephen H. Hughes

ABSTRACT The M184V mutation in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) causes resistance to lamivudine, but it also increases the sensitivity of the virus to zidovudine (3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine; AZT). This sensitization to AZT is seen both in the presence and the absence of the mutations that confer resistance to AZT. AZT resistance is due to enhanced excision of AZT 5′-monophosphate (AZTMP) from the end of the primer by the RT of the resistant virus. Published data suggest that the excision reaction involves pyrophosphorolysis but that the likely in vivo pyrophosphate donor is not pyrophosphate but ATP. The mutations that lead to AZT resistance enhance ATP binding and, in so doing, enhance pyrophosphorolysis. The excision reaction is specific for AZT because HIV-1 RT, which can form a closed complex with a dideoxy-terminated primer and an incoming deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP), does not form the closed complex with an AZTMP-terminated primer and an incoming dNTP. This means that an AZTMP-terminated primer has better access to the site where it can be excised. The M184V mutation alters the polymerase active site in a fashion that specifically interferes with ATP-mediated excision of AZTMP from the end of the primer strand. The M184V mutation does not affect the incorporation of AZT 5′-triphosphate (AZTTP), either in the presence or the absence of mutations that enhance AZTMP excision. However, in the presence of ATP, the M184V mutation does decrease the ability of HIV-1 RT to carry out AZTMP excision. Based on these results, and on the results of other excision experiments, we present a model to explain how the M184V mutation affects AZTMP excision.


2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (8) ◽  
pp. 3826-3833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zandrea Ambrose ◽  
Brian D. Herman ◽  
Chih-Wei Sheen ◽  
Shannon Zelina ◽  
Katie L. Moore ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We previously identified a rare mutation in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT), I132M, which confers high-level resistance to the nonnucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) nevirapine and delavirdine. In this study, we have further characterized the role of this mutation in viral replication capacity and in resistance to other RT inhibitors. Surprisingly, our data show that I132M confers marked hypersusceptibility to the nucleoside analogs lamivudine (3TC) and tenofovir at both the virus and enzyme levels. Subunit-selective mutagenesis studies revealed that the mutation in the p51 subunit of RT was responsible for the increased sensitivity to the drugs, and transient kinetic analyses showed that this hypersusceptibility was due to I132M decreasing the enzyme's affinity for the natural dCTP substrate but increasing its affinity for 3TC-triphosphate. Furthermore, the replication capacity of HIV-1 containing I132M is severely impaired. This decrease in viral replication capacity could be partially or completely compensated for by the A62V or L214I mutation, respectively. Taken together, these results help to explain the infrequent selection of I132M in patients for whom NNRTI regimens are failing and furthermore demonstrate that a single mutation outside of the polymerase active site and inside of the p51 subunit of RT can significantly influence nucleotide selectivity.


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