scholarly journals Faculty Opinions recommendation of Structural basis for transcriptional start site control of HIV-1 RNA fate.

Author(s):  
Ulf Pettersson
Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6489) ◽  
pp. 413-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Brown ◽  
Siarhei Kharytonchyk ◽  
Issac Chaudry ◽  
Aishwarya S. Iyer ◽  
Hannah Carter ◽  
...  

Heterogeneous transcriptional start site usage by HIV-1 produces 5′-capped RNAs beginning with one, two, or three 5′-guanosines (Cap1G, Cap2G, or Cap3G, respectively) that are either selected for packaging as genomes (Cap1G) or retained in cells as translatable messenger RNAs (mRNAs) (Cap2G and Cap3G). To understand how 5′-guanosine number influences fate, we probed the structures of capped HIV-1 leader RNAs by deuterium-edited nuclear magnetic resonance. The Cap1G transcript adopts a dimeric multihairpin structure that sequesters the cap, inhibits interactions with eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E, and resists decapping. The Cap2G and Cap3G transcripts adopt an alternate structure with an elongated central helix, exposed splice donor residues, and an accessible cap. Extensive remodeling, achieved at the energetic cost of a G-C base pair, explains how a single 5′-guanosine modifies the function of a ~9-kilobase HIV-1 transcript.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 117955571769455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujie Liu ◽  
Michael R Nonnemacher ◽  
Aikaterini Alexaki ◽  
Vanessa Pirrone ◽  
Anupam Banerjee ◽  
...  

Previous studies have identified a CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) site located downstream of the transcriptional start site (DS3). The role of the DS3 element with respect to HIV-1 transactivation by Tat and viral replication has not been characterized. We have demonstrated that DS3 was a functional C/EBPβ binding site and mutation of this site to the C/EBP knockout DS3-9C variant showed lower HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) transactivation by C/EBPβ. However, it was able to exhibit similar or even higher transcription levels by Tat compared to the parental LTR. C/EBPβ and Tat together further enhanced the transcription level of the parental LAI-LTR and DS3-9C LTR, with higher levels in the DS3-9C LTR. HIV molecular clone viruses carrying the DS3-9C variant LTR demonstrated a decreased replication capacity and delayed rate of replication. These results suggest that DS3 plays a role in virus transcriptional initiation and provides new insight into C/EBP regulation of HIV-1.


2000 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. XIE ◽  
D. H. ALPERS

Xie, Q., and D. H. Alpers. The two isozymes of rat intestinal alkaline phosphatase are products of two distinct genes. Physiol Genomics 3: 1–8, 2000.—Rat intestinal alkaline phosphatases (IAP-I and -II) differ in primary structure, substrate specificity, tissue localization, and response to fat feeding. This study identifies two distinct genes (∼5–6 kb) corresponding to each isozyme and containing 11 exons of nearly identical size. The exon-intron junctions are identical with those found in IAP genes from other species. The 1.7 and 1.2 bp of 5′ flanking regions isolated from each gene, respectively, contain Sp1 and gut-enriched Kruppel-like factor (GKLF) binding sites, but otherwise show little identity. There is a potential CAAT-box 14 bp 5′ to the transcriptional start site, 36 bp upstream from IAP-I, and a TATA-box 31 bp 5′ to the transcriptional start site, 55 bp upstream from IAP-II. Transfection of these promoter regions (linked to luciferase as a reporter gene) into a kidney cell line, COS-7, produced the differential response to oleic acid expected from in vivo studies, i.e., threefold increase using the 5′ flanking region of IAP-II, but not IAP-I. This response was not reproduced by 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA) or clofibrate, suggesting that peroxisome proliferator response elements are not involved. Isolation of the IAP-II gene will allow determination of the sequences responsible for dietary fat response in the enterocyte.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (9) ◽  
pp. 3062-3070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calin B. Chiribau ◽  
Cristinel Sandu ◽  
Gabor L. Igloi ◽  
Roderich Brandsch

ABSTRACT Nicotine catabolism by Arthrobacter nicotinovorans is linked to the presence of the megaplasmid pAO1. Genes involved in this catabolic pathway are arranged on the plasmid into gene modules according to function. During nicotine degradation γ-N-methylaminobutyrate is formed from the pyrrolidine ring of nicotine. Analysis of the pAO1 open reading frames (ORF) resulted in identification of the gene encoding a demethylating γ-N-methylaminobutyrate oxidase (mabO). This gene was shown to form an operon with purU- and folD-like genes. Only in bacteria grown in the presence of nicotine could transcripts of the purU-mabO-folD operon be detected, demonstrating that this operon constitutes part of the pAO1 nicotine regulon. Its transcriptional start site was determined by primer extension analysis. Transcription of the operon was shown to be controlled by a new transcriptional regulator, PmfR, the product of a gene that is transcribed divergently from the purU, mabO, and folD genes. PmfR was purified, and electromobility shift assays and DNase I-nuclease digestion experiments were used to determine that its DNA binding site is located between −48 and −88 nucleotides upstream of the transcriptional start site of the operon. Disruption of pmfR by homologous recombination with a chloramphenicol resistance cassette demonstrated that PmfR acts in vivo as a transcriptional activator. Mutagenesis of the PmfR target DNA suggested that the sequence GTTT-14 bp-AAAC is the core binding site of the regulator upstream of the −35 promoter region of the purU-mabO-folD operon.


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