Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
 31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The retroviruses of the avian sarcoma-leukosis virus group synthesize their viral protease (PR) in two precursor forms--as a carboxy-terminal domain of the Gag precursor and as an embedded domain within the Gag-Pol precursor. We have shown previously that the Gag-derived PR is fully capable of processing the Gag precursor in the absence of the embedded PR (R.P. Bennett, S. Rhee, R.C. Craven, E. Hunter, and J.W. Wills, J. Virol. 65:272-280, 1991). In this study, we examined the question of whether or not the PR domain of Gag-Pol has an essential role in the maturation of the Pol proteins. The Gag-Pol precursor was expressed in the absence of Gag by use of a simian virus 40-based vector in which the gag and pol reading frames were fused. The fusion protein accumulated to high levels in transfected cells without being released into the medium but could be rescued into particles by coexpression of the Gag protein from a second vector. The resulting particles contained mature Gag and Pol proteins and active reverse transcriptase (RT). Using this complementation system, the effects of PR defects in the Gag and/or Gag-Pol proteins on the activation of RT were examined. The results showed that the presence of a functional PR on the Gag precursor, but not on Gag-Pol, was required for full activation of RT. The embedded PR of Gag-Pol was unable to carry out any detectable processing of the Gag precursor and was able to activate RT to only a low level in the absence of a functional Gag PR domain. Finally, some point mutations in the Gag-Pol PR domain inhibited activation of RT in trans by a wild-type PR, suggesting that the correct conformation of the PR domain in Gag-Pol is prerequisite for activation of RT.
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PMID:Role of the avian retroviral protease in the activation of reverse transcriptase during virion assembly. 171 18

Using a molecularly cloned viral DNA probe representing the entire avian sarcoma virus (ASV) reverse transcriptase (pol) gene, we have detected related sequences in DNA preparations from two avain species, ev- chickens and Japanese quail, previously demonstrated to lack all endogenous avain leukosis viruses. Nucleotide sequence homology was detected only when hybridization conditions, which allowed the formation of stable duplexes with as much as 30% base mismatch, were used. No sequence homology could be detected when stringent hybridization conditions were used. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a clone representing the major pol-specific EcoRI restriction fragment from ev- chicken embryo fibroblasts revealed DNA homology as high as 72% and implied amino acid homology as high as 82% when compared to the sequence of the ASV strain Prague C pol gene. These data reveal the presence of retroviral pol gene sequences in avian cell lines that lack endogenous retrovirus sequences, suggesting that a reverse transcriptase-related gene exists in these cells as either part of a more distantly evolved retrovirus or a cellular gene.
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PMID:Presence of retrovirus reverse transcriptase-related gene sequences in avian cells lacking endogenous avian leukosis viruses. 241 Sep 12

The virion proteins encoded by the avian retroviral pol gene (reverse transcriptase and endonuclease) are formed by the proteolytic processing of a gag-pol fusion protein precursor. Recent studies have predicted that the avian sarcoma-leukosis virus pol precursor protein undergoes a previously undetected processing event resulting in the formation of common C termini for the endonuclease (pp32) and the beta subunit of reverse transcriptase (F. Alexander, J. Leis, D. A. Soltis, R. M. Crowl, W. Danho, M. S. Poonian, Y.-C. E. Pan, and A. M. Skalka, J. Virol. 61:534-542, 1987; D. Grandgenett, T. Quinn, P. J. Hippenmeyer, and S. Oroszlan, J. Biol. Chem. 260:8243-8249, 1985). This processing event removes 37 amino acids, thus defining a new pol domain. In this report, we present evidence that this C-terminal domain is translated as part of the gag-pol precursor but is not required for replication of the virus in tissue culture cells.
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PMID:A C-terminal domain in the avian sarcoma-leukosis virus pol gene product is not essential for viral replication. 244 90

Hitherto, detection of lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV), a C-type retrovirus of turkeys, has proved difficult since no tissue culture or serological assay has been available. Development of serological tests has been hampered by the problems of raising virus-specific antisera. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is reported, using a viral antiserum raised with bromelain-digested virus. The assay specifically detected purified virus at a concentration of 250 ng/ml or greater. In an experiment to detect virus in plasma from turkeys over a period of 4 weeks following LPDV infection, ELISA results correlated closely with the viral reverse transcriptase activity. Both assays were of similar sensitivity and detected small amounts of virus in high-speed pellets of turkey plasma. Evidence is presented indicating that LPDV-infected or hyperimmunized turkeys do not produce readily detectable circulating viral antibodies. In reciprocal ELISA tests, using antibodies to group-specific antigens of other avian retrovirus groups (avian sarcoma-leukosis (ASLV) and reticuloendotheliosis (REV] no antigenic cross-reaction was found between LPDV, ASLV and REV.
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PMID:Detection of lymphoproliferative disease virus by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. 244 56

Reverse transcriptase of the avian sarcoma and leukosis retroviruses is a heterodimer composed of a 63-kDa alpha and a 95-kDa beta polypeptide chain, both of which are encoded in the pol gene and are produced by proteolytic processing of a larger precursor. We previously constructed a bacterial expression clone of the entire pol coding region that produces a protein 4 kDa larger than the mature viral beta subunit. By use of this clone and synthetic oligonucleotides to introduce stop codons, two derivatives have been constructed: one that directs synthesis of a protein equivalent to the mature beta subunit and the other that directs synthesis of a protein equivalent to alpha subunit. Predicted amino acid sequences of these proteins differ from their viral counterparts only by an initiator methionine that was added to the N termini for expression in Escherichia coli. Both bacterially expressed proteins exhibit reverse transcriptase activity and appear to function as homodimers. The properties of these proteins resemble those of the viral reverse transcriptase heterodimer; however, the bacterially produced alpha dimer protein could be distinguished from the other proteins by its increased sensitivity to heat inactivation, which also has been reported for the corresponding viral product. These results show that correct folding and expression of enzymatic function does not require formation of a precursor. The alpha and beta clones provide a convenient source of individual pol gene products for further evaluation of their roles in the synthesis and integration of retroviral DNA.
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PMID:The alpha and beta chains of avian retrovirus reverse transcriptase independently expressed in Escherichia coli: characterization of enzymatic activities. 245 57

The gag-pol precursor protein of the avian sarcoma-leukosis virus is processed into three known pol-encoded mature polypeptides; the 95- and 63-kilodalton (kDa) beta and alpha subunits, respectively, of reverse transcriptase and the 32-kDa pp32 protein. The pp32 protein possesses DNA endonuclease activity and is produced from the precursor by two proteolytic cleavage events, one of which removes 4.1 kDa of protein from the C terminus. A 36-kDa protein (p36pol) which retains this C-terminal segment is detectable in small quantities in virions. We have constructed Escherichia coli plasmid clones that express the C-terminal domains of pol corresponding to pp32 and p36. These proteins have been purified by column chromatographic methods to near homogeneity. No significant differences could be detected in the enzymatic properties of the bacterially produced p32pol and p36pol proteins. Both possess DNA endonuclease activity and, like the pp32 protein isolated from virions, can cleave near the junction of two tandem avian sarcoma-leukosis virus long terminal repeats in double-stranded supercoiled DNA substrates. In the presence of Mg2+, both p32pol and viral pp32 cleave either strand of DNA 2 nucleotides 5' to the junction.
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PMID:Properties of avian sarcoma-leukosis virus pp32-related pol-endonucleases produced in Escherichia coli. 283 18

The 3' end of the avian sarcoma leukosis virus (ASLV) gag gene encodes a 124-amino-acid protease (PR) responsible for processing the gag and pol polyprotein precursors into the mature virion structural proteins and the reverse transcriptase. Here we report the synthesis of the mature ASLV PR and a nucleocapsid (NC)-PR gag precursor fragment in Escherichia coli. E. coli extracts containing mature PR correctly cleaved a synthetic decapeptide homologous to a known ASLV cleavage site. Also, the NC-PR precursor fragment appeared to be correctly processed to produce NC and PR in the bacterial cells. This cleavage was blocked by a mutation in the putative active site of PR. These results strongly support the hypothesis that PR is involved in cleaving itself from the gag precursor.
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PMID:Activity of avian retroviral protease expressed in Escherichia coli. 283 95

The RNA expression of a series of replication-defective recovered avian sarcoma viruses (rASVs) were studied. Abnormal-sized viral RNAs, both larger and smaller than the genome, were observed in the nonproducer cells infected with rASVs containing env and pol deletions. Each nonproducer clone contained a single provirus integrated at a unique site and expressed a unique RNA pattern. Upon rescuing of the sarcoma virus with a helper virus and subsequent cloning, the RNA pattern of individual nonproducer clones again displayed variation according to the integration sites. This was not seen in nondefective rASV or in rASVs containing only an env deletion. The aberrant RNA expression did not result from the lack of reverse transcriptase activity per se, since neither nonconditional nor temperature-sensitive mutants of RSV expressed abnormal viral RNAs in the absence of a functional reverse transcriptase. The abnormal RNA patterns could not be corrected in trans by helper virus functions. The unusual-sized RNAs in env- pol- rASV-infected cells are not due to splicing to alternative acceptor sites for src mRNA because there are no extra viral sequences between the 5' leader and the src sequences; instead, they are due to the presence of extra sequences, most likely of cellular origin, at the 3' ends of the viral RNAs. Based upon the extent of deletions in the viral genomes, the data suggest that deletion in the 3' pol region of those rASVs results in a cis effect on the transcription and processing of the 3' ends of viral RNAs. The unusual-sized viral RNAs are most likely due to read-through transcription from the right-hand terminus of provirus into downstream cellular sequences, followed by cleavage and polyadenylation at multiple sites of the 3' region of the RNA transcripts. The extent of read-through transcription appears to depend on the chromosomal location of the provirus.
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PMID:Deletion in the 3' pol sequence correlates with aberration of RNA expression in certain replication-defective avian sarcoma viruses. 298 7

Previously, human diploid fibroblasts from some donors infected in vitro by avian sarcoma virus (ASV) were transformed and found, by electron microscopy, to produce small numbers of virus particles that were infectious by bioassay; also, a line of human osteosarcoma cells infected with ASV developed additional characteristics of transformation and released a small number of infectious virus particles. In this study the complete proviral sequence was shown to be integrated in the genome of these cells. The env-related proteins gp85 and gp37 and the gag-related proteins pr76, pr60, and p19 can be detected in cytoplasmic extracts of ASV-infected human cells. Comparable amounts of pp60v-src were found in human and avian cells infected with ASV. The associated kinase activity in infected human cells was dramatically increased as compared to that of uninfected controls; the enzyme had the same cation and substrate requirements as those from ASV-transformed avian cells. Replicating particles from infected human cells were purified and were significantly modified compared to those from avian hosts as shown by a) higher specific gravity, b) the presence of RSV gag-related but not env-related antigens, and c) the fact that the virus-associated reverse transcriptase preferred the divalent cations Mn2+ and Fe2+ over Mg2+.
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PMID:Integration and expression of provirus in human cells transformed by avian sarcoma virus. 303 82

Newly isolated strains of avian sarcoma virus, S1 and S2, were shown to have the transduced cellular src gene as their viral transforming gene (Yamagishi et al., Virology 137:266-275, 1984). In this work, the S1 and S2 genomes were molecularly cloned, and the junction sequences between the viral genomes and the c-src genes and the complete nucleotide sequences of the v-src genes transduced in these viruses were determined. Data on the junction sequences suggested that 5' recombination had occurred between the 5'-noncoding region of c-src and the 5' region of the gag sequence encoding p19 in both viruses and that 3' recombination had occurred in the last coding exon of c-src with either the middle portion of the env sequence encoding gp85 for S1 or the 3' portion of pol coding for reverse transcriptase for S2. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of the S1 and S2 src products deduced from the nucleotide sequences (pp62S1-src and pp62S2-src with that of c-src protein (pp60c-src) indicated that in pp62S1-src the 8 carboxy-terminal amino acid residues of the total of 533 in pp60c-src are replaced by 43 residues translated from the env sequence at the wrong frame. In pp62S2-src, on the other hand, the 14 carboxy-terminal amino acids of pp60c-src are replaced by the 38 carboxy-terminal residues of reverse transcriptase. The mechanism of c-src transduction and the structural changes necessary for pp60c-src activation are discussed.
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PMID:Activation of the cellular src gene by transducing retrovirus. 309 13


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