Determining 3'-Termini and Sequences of Nascent Single-Stranded Viral DNA Molecules during HIV-1 Reverse Transcription in Infected Cells

ABSTRACT We have recently reported that the in vitro inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcription by inhibitors of reverse transcriptase (RT) occurred most efficiently when the expected DNA products of RT reactions were long (Quan et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 26:5692–5698, 1998). Here, we have used a quantitative PCR to analyze HIV-1 reverse transcription within acutely infected cells treated with RT inhibitors. We found that levels of minus-strand strong-stop DNA [(−)ssDNA] formed in acutely infected MT2 cells were only slightly reduced if cells were infected with viruses that had been generated in the presence of either azidothymidine or nevirapine (5 μM) and maintained in the presence of this drug throughout the viral adsorption period and thereafter. Control experiments in which virus inoculation of cells was performed at 4°C, followed directly by cell extraction, showed that less than 1% of total (−)ssDNA within acutely infected cells was attributable to its presence within adsorbed virions. In contrast, synthesis of intermediate-length reverse-transcribed DNA products decreased gradually as viral DNA strand elongation took place in the presence of either of these inhibitors. This establishes that nucleoside and nonnucleoside RT inhibitors can exert similar temporal impacts in regard to inhibition of viral DNA synthesis. Generation of full-length viral DNA, as expected, was almost completely blocked in the presence of these antiviral drugs. These results provide insight into the fact that high concentrations of drugs are often needed to yield inhibitory effects in cell-free RT assays performed with short templates, whereas relatively low drug concentrations are often strongly inhibitory in cellular systems.

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Extended Interactions between HIV-1 Viral RNA and tRNALys3 Are Important to Maintain Viral RNA Integrity

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22010058 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 58

Author(s):

Thomas Gremminger ◽

Zhenwei Song ◽

Juan Ji ◽

Avery Foster ◽

Kexin Weng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reverse Transcription ◽

Potential Interaction ◽

Viral Rna ◽

Primer Binding Site ◽

Rna Integrity ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Extended Interaction ◽

Hiv 1

The reverse transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) initiates upon annealing of the 3′-18-nt of tRNALys3 onto the primer binding site (PBS) in viral RNA (vRNA). Additional intermolecular interactions between tRNALys3 and vRNA have been reported, but their functions remain unclear. Here, we show that abolishing one potential interaction, the A-rich loop: tRNALys3 anticodon interaction in the HIV-1 MAL strain, led to a decrease in viral infectivity and reduced the synthesis of reverse transcription products in newly infected cells. In vitro biophysical and functional experiments revealed that disruption of the extended interaction resulted in an increased affinity for reverse transcriptase (RT) and enhanced primer extension efficiency. In the absence of deoxyribose nucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs), vRNA was degraded by the RNaseH activity of RT, and the degradation rate was slower in the complex with the extended interaction. Consistently, the loss of vRNA integrity was detected in virions containing A-rich loop mutations. Similar results were observed in the HIV-1 NL4.3 strain, and we show that the nucleocapsid (NC) protein is necessary to promote the extended vRNA: tRNALys3 interactions in vitro. In summary, our data revealed that the additional intermolecular interaction between tRNALys3 and vRNA is likely a conserved mechanism among various HIV-1 strains and protects the vRNA from RNaseH degradation in mature virions.

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Inhibition of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infectivity by Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor Occurs Prior to Viral Reverse Transcription

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v90.3.1141 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. 1141-1149 ◽

Cited By ~ 187

Author(s):

Tessie B. McNeely ◽

Diane C. Shugars ◽

Mary Rosendahl ◽

Christina Tucker ◽

Stephen P. Eisenberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Protease Inhibitor ◽

Viral Infection ◽

Reverse Transcription ◽

Inhibitory Activity ◽

Virus Binding ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Anti Hiv ◽

Hiv 1

Abstract Infection of monocytes with human immunodeficiency virus type 1Ba-L (HIV-1Ba-L ) is significantly inhibited by treatment with the serine protease inhibitor, secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI). SLPI does not appear to act on virus directly, but rather the inhibitory activity is most likely due to interaction with the host cell. The current study was initiated to investigate how SLPI interacts with monocytes to inhibit infection. SLPI was found to bind to monocytes with high affinity to a single class of receptor sites (∼7,000 receptors per monocyte, KD = 3.6 nmol/L). The putative SLPI receptor was identified as a surface protein with a molecular weight of 55 ± 5 kD. A well-characterized function of SLPI is inhibition of neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G. However, two SLPI mutants (or muteins) that contain single amino acid substitutions and exhibit greatly reduced protease inhibitory activity still bound to monocytes and retained anti–HIV-1 activity. SLPI consists of two domains, of which the C-terminal domain contains the protease inhibiting region. However, when tested independently, neither domain had potent anti–HIV-1 activity. SLPI binding neither prevented virus binding to monocytes nor attenuated the infectivity of any virus progeny that escaped inhibition by SLPI. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay for newly generated viral DNA demonstrated that SLPI blocks at or before viral DNA synthesis. Therefore, it most likely inhibits a step of viral infection that occurs after virus binding but before reverse transcription. Taken together, the unique antiviral activity of SLPI, which may be independent of its previously characterized antiprotease activity, appears to reside in disruption of the viral infection process soon after virus binding.

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Inhibition of \batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(\mathrm{tRNA}_{3}^{\mathrm{Lys}}\) \end{document}-Primed Reverse Transcription by Human APOBEC3G during Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.01038-06 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 80 (23) ◽

pp. 11710-11722 ◽

Cited By ~ 147

Author(s):

Fei Guo ◽

Shan Cen ◽

Meijuan Niu ◽

Jenan Saadatmand ◽

Lawrence Kleiman

Keyword(s):

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽

Virus Type ◽

Reverse Transcription ◽

Viral Infectivity ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Dna Production ◽

Hiv 1

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.

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4′-C-Methyl-2′-Deoxyadenosine and 4′-C-Ethyl-2′-Deoxyadenosine Inhibit HIV-1 Replication

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1128/aac.01290-10 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 55 (5) ◽

pp. 2379-2389 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

B. Christie Vu ◽

Paul L. Boyer ◽

Maqbool A. Siddiqui ◽

Victor E. Marquez ◽

Stephen H. Hughes

Keyword(s):

Reverse Transcriptase ◽

Dna Synthesis ◽

Cultured Cells ◽

Nucleoside Analogs ◽

Transcriptase Inhibitor ◽

Resistance Mutations ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACTIt is important to develop new anti-HIV drugs that are effective against the existing drug-resistant mutants. Because the excision mechanism is an important pathway for resistance to nucleoside analogs, we are preparing analogs that retain a 3′-OH and can be extended after they are incorporated by the viral reverse transcriptase. We show that 4′-C-alkyl-deoxyadenosine (4′-C-alkyl-dA) compounds can be phosphorylated in cultured cells and can inhibit the replication of HIV-1 vectors: 4′-C-methyl- and 4′-C-ethyl-dA show both efficacy and selectivity against HIV-1. The compounds are also effective against viruses that replicate using reverse transcriptases (RTs) that carry nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance mutations, with the exception of the M184V mutant. Analysis of viral DNA synthesis in infected cells showed that viral DNA synthesis is blocked by the incorporation of either 4′-C-methyl- or 4′-C-ethyl-2′-deoxyadenosine.In vitroexperiments with purified HIV-1 RT showed that 4′-C-methyl-2′-dATP can compete with dATP and that incorporation of the analog causes pausing in DNA synthesis. The 4′-C-ethyl compound also competes with dATP and shows a differential ability to block DNA synthesis on RNA and DNA templates. Experiments that measure the ability of the compounds to block DNA synthesis in infected cells suggest that this differential block to DNA synthesis also occurs in infected cells.

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Reinfection results in accumulation of unintegrated viral DNA in cytopathic and persistent human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection of CEM cells.

Journal of Experimental Medicine ◽

10.1084/jem.172.4.1035 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 172 (4) ◽

pp. 1035-1042 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

C D Pauza ◽

J E Galindo ◽

D D Richman

Keyword(s):

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽

Virus Type ◽

Virus Production ◽

Neutralizing Antibody ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Hiv 1

High levels of unintegrated viral DNA accumulate during human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection of CEM T cells. Reinfection of already infected cells is required to attain these levels and reinfection also promotes the development of HIV-induced cytopathology. Rates of virus production, however, are independent of the accumulation of unintegrated viral DNA. Neutralizing antibody added soon after infection reduced viral DNA levels without appreciably affecting the production of cell-free viral p24 antigen or reverse transcriptase activity. Only 50 pM AZT were required to reduce the accumulation of unintegrated viral DNA by 50% in contrast to the 25 nM required to inhibit virus production by 50%. Cytopathology, as measured by number of syncytia in infected cell cultures, was correlated with highly elevated levels of unintegrated viral DNA. The minimal levels of unintegrated viral DNA present constitutively in the persistently infected HCEM cell line were consonant with the absence of cytopathic effects in these cells. These data demonstrate that inhibiting the reinfection of already infected cells modulates cytopathic HIV-1 infection to a form that is persistent and noncytopathic.

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HIV-1 uncoats in the nucleus near sites of integration

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1920631117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (10) ◽

pp. 5486-5493 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Ryan C. Burdick ◽

Chenglei Li ◽

MohamedHusen Munshi ◽

Jonathan M. O. Rawson ◽

Kunio Nagashima ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reverse Transcription ◽

Nuclear Import ◽

Host Protein ◽

Productive Infection ◽

Protein Cleavage ◽

Integration Sites ◽

Specificity Factor ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Viral Dna Integration ◽

Hiv 1

HIV-1 capsid core disassembly (uncoating) must occur before integration of viral genomic DNA into the host chromosomes, yet remarkably, the timing and cellular location of uncoating is unknown. Previous studies have proposed that intact viral cores are too large to fit through nuclear pores and uncoating occurs in the cytoplasm in coordination with reverse transcription or at the nuclear envelope during nuclear import. The capsid protein (CA) content of the infectious viral cores is not well defined because methods for directly labeling and quantifying the CA in viral cores have been unavailable. In addition, it has been difficult to identify the infectious virions because only one of ∼50 virions in infected cells leads to productive infection. Here, we developed methods to analyze HIV-1 uncoating by direct labeling of CA with GFP and to identify infectious virions by tracking viral cores in living infected cells through viral DNA integration and proviral DNA transcription. Astonishingly, our results show that intact (or nearly intact) viral cores enter the nucleus through a mechanism involving interactions with host protein cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 6 (CPSF6), complete reverse transcription in the nucleus before uncoating, and uncoat <1.5 h before integration near (<1.5 μm) their genomic integration sites. These results fundamentally change our current understanding of HIV-1 postentry replication events including mechanisms of nuclear import, uncoating, reverse transcription, integration, and evasion of innate immunity.

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Sequences in the 5′ and 3′ R Elements of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Critical for Efficient Reverse Transcription

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.74.18.8324-8334.2000 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 74 (18) ◽

pp. 8324-8334 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Yuki Ohi ◽

Jared L. Clever

Keyword(s):

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type ◽

Virus Type ◽

Reverse Transcription ◽

Strand Transfer ◽

Minus Strand ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACT The genome of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) contains two direct repeats (R) of 97 nucleotides at each end. These elements are of critical importance during the first-strand transfer of reverse transcription, during which the minus-strand strong-stop DNA (−sssDNA) is transferred from the 5′ end to the 3′ end of the genomic RNA. This transfer is critical for the synthesis of the full-length minus-strand cDNA. These repeats also contain a variety of other functional domains involved in many aspects of the viral life cycle. In this study, we have introduced a series of mutations into the 5′, the 3′, or both R sequences designed to avoid these other functional domains. Using a single-round infectivity assay, we determined the ability of these mutants to undergo the various steps of reverse transcription utilizing a semiquantitative PCR analysis. We find that mutations within the first 10 nucleotides of either the 5′ or the 3′ R sequence resulted in virions that were markedly defective for reverse transcription in infected cells. These mutations potentially introduce mismatches between the full-length −sssDNA and 3′ acceptor R. Even mutations that would create relatively small mismatches, as little as 3 bp, resulted in inefficient reverse transcription. In contrast, virions containing identically mutated R elements were not defective for reverse transcription or infectivity. Using an endogenous reverse transcription assay with disrupted virus, we show that virions harboring the 5′ or the 3′ R mutations were not intrinsically defective for DNA synthesis. Similarly sized mismatches slightly further downstream in either the 5′, the 3′, or both R sequences were not detrimental to continued reverse transcription in infected cells. These data are consistent with the idea that certain mismatches within 10 nucleotides downstream of the U3-R junction in HIV-1 cause defects in the stability of the cDNA before or during the first-strand transfer of reverse transcription leading to the rapid disappearance of the −sssDNA in infected cells. These data also suggest that the great majority of first-strand transfers in HIV-1 occur after the copying of virtually the entire 5′ R.

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IP6 is an HIV pocket factor that prevents capsid collapse and promotes DNA synthesis

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.35335 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Donna L Mallery ◽

Chantal L Márquez ◽

William A McEwan ◽

Claire F Dickson ◽

David A Jacques ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Synthesis ◽

Single Molecule ◽

Reverse Transcription ◽

Isotopic Labelling ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Infectious Virion ◽

Capsid Stability ◽

Hiv 1 ◽

Transcription Assays

The HIV capsid is semipermeable and covered in electropositive pores that are essential for viral DNA synthesis and infection. Here, we show that these pores bind the abundant cellular polyanion IP6, transforming viral stability from minutes to hours and allowing newly synthesised DNA to accumulate inside the capsid. An arginine ring within the pore coordinates IP6, which strengthens capsid hexamers by almost 10°C. Single molecule measurements demonstrate that this renders native HIV capsids highly stable and protected from spontaneous collapse. Moreover, encapsidated reverse transcription assays reveal that, once stabilised by IP6, the accumulation of new viral DNA inside the capsid increases >100 fold. Remarkably, isotopic labelling of inositol in virus-producing cells reveals that HIV selectively packages over 300 IP6 molecules per infectious virion. We propose that HIV recruits IP6 to regulate capsid stability and uncoating, analogous to picornavirus pocket factors. HIV-1/IP6/capsid/co-factor/reverse transcription.

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Flexibility in Nucleic Acid Binding Is Central to APOBEC3H Antiviral Activity

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.01275-19 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 93 (24) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jennifer A. Bohn ◽

Justin DaSilva ◽

Siarhei Kharytonchyk ◽

Maria Mercedes ◽

Jennifer Vosters ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amino Acids ◽

Nucleic Acid ◽

Antiviral Activity ◽

Reverse Transcription ◽

Rna Binding ◽

Viral Dna ◽

Dna Substrates ◽

Apobec3 Proteins ◽

Rna Interaction ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACT APOBEC3 proteins APOBEC3F (A3F), APOBEC3G (A3G), and APOBEC3H (A3H) are host restriction factors that inhibit HIV-1 through DNA cytidine deaminase-dependent and -independent mechanisms and have either one (A3H) or two (A3F and A3G) zinc-binding domains. A3H antiviral activity encompasses multiple molecular functions, all of which depend on recognition of RNA or DNA. A3H crystal structures revealed an unusual interaction with RNA wherein an RNA duplex mediates dimerization of two A3H proteins. In this study, we sought to determine the importance of RNA-binding amino acids in the antiviral and biochemical properties of A3H. We show that the wild-type A3H-RNA interaction is essential for A3H antiviral activity and for two deaminase-independent processes: encapsidation into viral particles and inhibition of reverse transcription. Furthermore, an extensive mutagenesis campaign revealed distinct roles for two groups of amino acids at the RNA binding interface. C-terminal helix residues exclusively bind RNA, and loop 1 residues play a dual role in recognition of DNA substrates and in RNA binding. Weakening the interface between A3H and RNA allows DNA substrates to bind with greater affinity and enhances deamination rates, suggesting that RNA binding must be disrupted to accommodate DNA. Intriguingly, we demonstrate that A3H can deaminate overhanging DNA strands of RNA/DNA heteroduplexes, which are early intermediates during reverse transcription and may represent natural A3H substrates. Overall, we present a mechanistic model of A3H restriction and a step-by-step elucidation of the roles of RNA-binding residues in A3H activity, particle incorporation, inhibition of reverse transcriptase inhibition, and DNA cytidine deamination. IMPORTANCE APOBEC3 proteins are host factors that protect the integrity of the host genome by inhibiting retroelements as well as retroviruses, such as HIV-1. To do this, the APOBEC3H protein has evolved unique interactions with structured RNAs. Here, we studied the importance of these interactions in driving antiviral activity of APOBEC3H. Our results provide a clear picture of how RNA binding drives the ability of APOBEC3H to infiltrate new viruses and prevent synthesis of viral DNA. We also explore how RNA binding by APOBEC3H influences recognition and deamination of viral DNA and describe two possible routes by which APOBEC3H might hypermutate the HIV-1 genome. These results highlight how one protein can sense many nucleic acid species for a variety of antiviral activities.

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