scholarly journals Repair of a Rev-Minus Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Mutant by Activation of a Cryptic Splice Site

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 3495-3500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Verhoef ◽  
Patricia S. Bilodeau ◽  
Jeroen L. B. van Wamel ◽  
Jørgen Kjems ◽  
C. Martin Stoltzfus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Splice Site ◽  
Site Mutation ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Splicing Silencer ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Revertant Virus

ABSTRACT We isolated a revertant virus after prolonged culturing of a replication-impaired human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mutant of which the Rev open reading frame was inactivated by mutation of the AUG translation initiation codon. Sequencing of the tat-rev region of this revertant virus identified a second-site mutation in tat that restored virus replication in the mutant background. This mutation activated a cryptic 5′ splice site (ss) that, when used in conjunction with the regular HIV 3′ ss #5, fuses the tat and revreading frames to encode a novel T-Rev fusion protein that rescues Rev function. We also demonstrate an alternative route to indirectly activate this cryptic 5′ ss by mutational inactivation of an adjacent exon splicing silencer element.

scholarly journals Extended nucleocapsid protein is cleaved from the Gag–Pol precursor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nissim Chen ◽  
Abraham Morag ◽  
Nava Almog ◽  
Immanuel Blumenzweig ◽  
Orna Dreazin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Cleavage Site ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Site Mutation ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag and Gag–Pol precursors are translated from an mRNA which is indistinguishable from the full-length genomic RNA. The ratio of Gag to Gag–Pol polyproteins is approximately 20:1 and is controlled by a frameshift of the reading frame, which takes place downstream of the p7 nucleocapsid (NC) in the N terminus of the p1 peptide. The viral precursors Gag and Gag–Pol are cleaved by the virus-encoded protease (PR) into the structural proteins, and into p6Pol, PR, reverse transcriptase and integrase. Due to the frameshift event, the cleavage site at the C terminus of NC coded in the Gag frame (ERQAN-FLGKI) changes either to ERQANFLRED or ERQANFFRED. The results presented in this report demonstrate that the NC released from the Gag–Pol precursor is 8 amino acid residues longer than the NC cleaved from the Gag polyprotein. Our results also show that truncated Gag–Pol precursors bearing cleavage site mutation at the NC/p6Pol, and/or p6Pol/PR junctions, undergo autoprocessing in bacterial and eukaryotic cells, indicating that PR is active when part of the precursor.

scholarly journals An Exonic Splicing Silencer Downstream of the 3′ Splice Site A2 Is Required for Efficient Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (16) ◽  
pp. 10478-10486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Madsen ◽  
C. Martin Stoltzfus
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Splice Site ◽  
Viral Mrna ◽  
Splice Sites ◽  
Splicing Silencer ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Alternative splicing of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genomic mRNA produces more than 40 unique viral mRNA species, of which more than half remain incompletely spliced within an HIV-1-infected cell. Regulation of splicing at HIV-1 3′ splice sites (3′ss) requires suboptimal polypyrimidine tracts, and positive or negative regulation of splicing occurs through binding of cellular factors to cis-acting splicing regulatory elements. We have previously shown that splicing at HIV-1 3′ss A2, which produces vpr mRNA and promotes inclusion of HIV-1 exon 3, is repressed by the hnRNP A/B-dependent exonic splicing silencer ESSV. Here we show that ESSV activity downstream of 3′ss A2 is localized to a 16-nucleotide element within HIV-1 exon 3. HIV-1 replication was reduced by 95% when ESSV was inactivated by mutagenesis. Reduced replication was concomitant with increased inclusion of exon 3 within spliced viral mRNA and decreased accumulation of unspliced viral mRNA, resulting in decreased cell-associated p55 Gag. Prolonged culture of ESSV mutant viruses resulted in two independent second-site reversions disrupting the splice sites that define exon 3, 3′ss A2 and 5′ splice site D3. Either of these changes restored both HIV-1 replication and regulated viral splicing. Therefore, inhibition of HIV-1 3′ss A2 splicing is necessary for HIV-1 replication.

scholarly journals Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 hnRNP A/B-Dependent Exonic Splicing Silencer ESSV Antagonizes Binding of U2AF65 to Viral Polypyrimidine Tracts

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (23) ◽  
pp. 8762-8772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey K. Domsic ◽  
Yibin Wang ◽  
Akila Mayeda ◽  
Adrian R. Krainer ◽  
C. Martin Stoltzfus
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Splice Site ◽  
Independent Functions ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
U1 Snrnp ◽  
Precursor Rna ◽  
Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) exonic splicing silencers (ESSs) inhibit production of certain spliced viral RNAs by repressing alternative splicing of the viral precursor RNA. Several HIV-1 ESSs interfere with spliceosome assembly by binding cellular hnRNP A/B proteins. Here, we have further characterized the mechanism of splicing repression using a representative HIV-1 hnRNP A/B-dependent ESS, ESSV, which regulates splicing at the vpr 3′ splice site. We show that hnRNP A/B proteins bound to ESSV are necessary to inhibit E complex assembly by competing with the binding of U2AF65 to the polypyrimidine tracts of repressed 3′ splice sites. We further show evidence suggesting that U1 snRNP binds the 5′ splice site despite an almost complete block of splicing by ESSV. Possible splicing-independent functions of U1 snRNP-5′ splice site interactions during virus replication are discussed.

scholarly journals Novel Gag-Pol Frameshift Site in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Variants Resistant to Protease Inhibitors

1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 6146-6150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Doyon ◽  
Catherine Payant ◽  
Léa Brakier-Gingras ◽  
Daniel Lamarre
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Protease Inhibitors ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Cleavage Site ◽  
Messenger Rna ◽  
Site Mutation ◽  
Ribosomal Frameshifting ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants resistant to protease inhibitors have been shown to contain a mutation in the p1/p6 Gag precursor cleavage site. At the messenger RNA level, this mutation generates a U UUU UUU sequence that is reminiscent of the U UUU UUA sequence required for ribosomal frameshifting and Gag-Pol synthesis. To test whether the p1/p6 cleavage site mutation was generating a novel frameshift site, HIV sequences were inserted in translation vectors containing a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene requiring −1 frameshifting for expression. All sequences containing the original HIV frameshift site supported the synthesis of CAT but expression was increased 3- to 11-fold in the presence of the mutant p1/p6 sequence. When the original frameshift site was abolished by mutation, expression remained unchanged when using constructs containing the mutant p1/p6 sequence, whereas it was decreased 2- to 4.5-fold when using wild-type p1/p6 constructs. Similarly, when introduced into HIV molecular clones, the p1/p6 mutant sequence supported Gag-Pol synthesis and protease activity in the absence of the original frameshift site, indicating that this sequence could also promote ribosomal frameshifting in virus-expressing cells.

Mechanism of translation of monocistronic and multicistronic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 mRNAs

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Schwartz ◽  
B K Felber ◽  
G N Pavlakis
Keyword(s):  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽  
Virus Type ◽  
Cdna Clones ◽  
Leaky Scanning ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Env Protein ◽  
Hiv 1

We have used a panel of cDNA clones expressing wild-type and mutant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mRNAs to study translation of these mRNAs in eucaryotic cells. The tat open reading frame (ORF) has a strong signal for translation initiation, while rev and vpu ORFs have weaker signals. The expression of downstream ORFs is inhibited in mRNAs that contain the tat ORF as the first ORF. In contrast, downstream ORFs are expressed efficiently from mRNAs that have rev or vpu as the first ORF. All env mRNAs contain the upstream vpu ORF. Expression of HIV-1 Env protein requires a weak vpu AUG, which allows leaky scanning to occur, thereby allowing ribosomes access to the downstream env ORF. We concluded that HIV-1 mRNAs are translated by the scanning mechanism and that expression of more than one protein from each mRNA was caused by leaky scanning at the first AUG of the mRNA.

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