Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: 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)

Two families of retrotransposons, Tf1 and Tf2, have been isolated from the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We report here the nucleotide (nt) sequence of a Tf2 element, the only retrotransposon family known from the commonly used laboratory strains, 972 and 975, and their derivatives. The total nt sequence of Tf2 was derived from the complete sequence of the coding region and 3' long terminal repeat (LTR) of randomly cloned element Tf2-1, and from a full 5' LTR and approximately one-third of the open reading frame (ORF) of Tf2-43, a Tf2 element found in the head-to-head orientation adjacent to the Sz. pombe rpb6 gene. The two Tf2 sequences are nearly identical and both of them contain a single ORF encoding a protein with regions of sequence similar to protease, reverse transcriptase, RNase H (RH) and integrase from other retrotransposons and retroviruses. Sequence comparisons between Tf1 and Tf2 indicate an extreme divergence of the putative capsid protein-encoding regions of these two elements, as well as divergence of a segment of the LTR, but otherwise virtually identical sequence.
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PMID:Sequence analysis of closely related retrotransposon families from fission yeast. 839 47

The expression of the pol gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) occurs by a ribosomal frameshift between the gag and the pol genes. The Gag-Pol polyprotein is produced at levels of 5 to 10% of that of the Gag protein, and is incorporated into virions to provide the viral protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase which are essential for replication. The mechanism(s) by which the Gag-Pol polyprotein are targeted to the HIV virion is unknown, although it is believed to be via an interaction with the Gag protein. To further explore the mechanism by which the Gag-Pol polyprotein is incorporated into virions, we have constructed a mutation which changes an aspartic acid in the protease active site to asparagine (pHXB2pro-); a four-amino-acid insertion into the protease gene (pHXB2Smal); and insertion of translational termination codons in the protease gene following the gag gene (pHXB55). Transfection of these proviral genomes into COS-1 cells resulted in intracellular expression of only Pr55gag, demonstrating the inactivation of the viral protease. The expression of Pr55gag was evident in cells transfected with pHXB2pro- during a short pulse and first 3 hr of chase period, whereas at later times the intracellular levels of Pr55gag were greatly reduced. In contrast, the intracellular Pr55gag expressed from transfection of pHXB2Smal or pHXB55 were evident even after 6- or 12-hr chase times. To ascertain the effects of the mutations on the assembly and release of viruslike particles, the supernatants from the transfected cells were analyzed for the presence of Pr55gag. The release of Pr55gag from cells transfected with pHXB2pro- occurred as early as 1 hr following chase period, and increased for up to 3 hr. In contrast, reduced levels of Pr55gag were detected in the medium from cells transfected with pHXB2Smal or pHXB55. Subcellular fractionation studies demonstrated that the Pr55gag expressed from transfection of pHXB2pro- was rapidly targeted to intracellular membranes, while the majority of the Pr55gag expressed from transfection of pHXB2Smal or pHXB55 was distributed evenly between the cytoplasm and membrane fractions. Finally, the released viruslike particles obtained from the transfection of proviral genome pHXB2pro- were stable to mild detergent treatment, whereas particles obtained from transfection of pHXB2Smal and pHXB55 were relatively unstable. These results demonstrate that subtle changes in the Gag-Pol polyprotein of HIV-1 can have significant effects on the assembly and physical stability of the released virus.
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PMID:Mutations in the protease gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 affect release and stability of virus particles. 850 89

The retrotransposon Tf1, isolated from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, contains a single open reading frame with sequences encoding Gag, protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase (IN). Tf1 has previously been shown to possess significant transposition activity. Although Tf1 proteins do assemble into virus-like particles, the assembly does not require readthrough of a translational reading frame shift or stop codon, common mechanisms used by retroelements to express Gag in molar excess of the polymerase proteins. This study was designed to determine if Tf1 particles contain equal amounts of Gag and polymerase proteins or whether they contain the typical molar excess of Gag. After using two separate methods to calibrate the strength of our antibodies, we found that both S. pombe extracts and partially purified Tf1 particles contained a 26-fold molar excess of Gag relative to IN. Knowing that Gag and IN are derived from the same Tf1 primary translation product, we concluded that the excess Gag most likely resulted from specific degradation of IN. We obtained evidence of regulated IN degradation in comparisons of Tf1 protein extracted from log-phase cells and that extracted from stationary-phase cells. The log-phase cells contained equal molar amounts of Gag and IN, whereas cells approaching stationary phase rapidly degraded IN, leaving an excess of Gag. Analysis of the reverse transcripts indicated that the bulk of reverse transcription occurred within the particles that possess a molar excess of Gag.
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PMID:The retrotransposon Tf1 assembles virus-like particles that contain excess Gag relative to integrase because of a regulated degradation process. 852 13

A retrotransposon from the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici has been isolated and characterized. The element, designated skippy (skp) is 7846 bp in length, flanked by identical long terminal repeats (LTR) of 429 bp showing structural features characteristic of retroviral and retrotransposon LTRs. Target-site duplications of 5 bp were found. Two long overlapping open reading frames (ORF) were identified. The first ORF, 2562 bp in length, shows homology to retroviral gag genes. The second ORF, 3888 bp in length, has homology to the protease, reverse transcriptase. RNase H and integrase domains of retroelement pol genes in that order. Sequence comparisons and the order of the predicted proteins from skippy indicate that the element is closely related to the gypsy family of LTR-retrotransposons. The element is present in similar copy numbers in the two races investigated, although RFLP analysis showed differences in banding patterns. The number of LTR sequences present in the genome is higher than the number of copies of complete elements, indicating excision by homologous recombination between LTR sequences.
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PMID:Skippy, a retrotransposon from the fungal plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. 854 29

It has been reported recently that the human foamy virus (HFV) Pol polyprotein of 120 kDa is synthesized in the absence of the active HFV aspartic protease. To gain more information on how the 120-kDa Pro-Pol protein is synthesized, mutant HFV genomes were constructed and the resulting proviruses were analyzed with respect to HFV pol expression and infectivity. HFV proviruses that contain termination codons in the nucleocapsid domain of gag and thus lack a gag-pol overlap region assumed to be required for translational frameshifting, nevertheless expressed the 120-kDa Pro-Pol precursor, the 80-kDa reverse transcriptase/RNase H, and a 40-kDa integrase in amounts similar to those observed for wild-type genomes. Since a Gag-independent expression of authentic Pol proteins was detectable in cells transfected with eukaryotic HFV pol expression plasmids, the data indicate that the HFV Pol precursor of 120 kDa is expressed independently of Gag by a mechanism that does not rely on ribosomal frameshifting, since the postulated HFV Gag-Pol protein of 190 kDa was not detectable under the conditions used. Furthermore, replacement of the Met residue by Thr at position 9 in pol within the gag-pol overlap region resulted in strongly reduced HFV Pol polyprotein expression and infectivity of the resulting proviruses. This Met residue of pol conserved in foamy virus sequences is the likely candidate for translational initiation of the 120-kDa Pro-Pol polyprotein. trans complementation of the HFV mutant with the Met-to-Thr substitution in the pol gene by a eukaryotic plasmid that expressed the HFV Pro-Pol protein resulted in partial recovery of infectivity. When HFV pol was fused in frame to gag, an engineered 190-kDa Gag-Pol fusion protein was formed and the enzymatic activity of the HFV protease was partially retained. The results imply that HFV is the first retrovirus that expresses a Pol polyprotein without formation of a Gag-Pol fusion protein.
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PMID:The human foamy virus pol gene is expressed as a Pro-Pol polyprotein and not as a Gag-Pol fusion protein. 855 61

The viral integrase (IN) protein is the only viral protein known to be required for integration of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome into the host cell DNA, a step in the viral life cycle that is essential for viral replication. To better understand the relationship between in vitro IN activity and IN-mediated integration of viral DNA in an infected cell, we characterized the effects of 13 IN mutations on viral replication in cultured cells. Using HIV-1 genomes that express the hygromycin resistance gene and do not express the HIV-1 env gene, we generated stocks of pseudotype virus coated with the murine leukemia virus amphotropic envelope glycoprotein, containing either wild-type or mutant HIV-1 IN. All mutants produced normal amounts of physical particles, as measured by reverse transcriptase activity and capsid protein (p24) concentration, but they formed three groups based on infectious titer and synthesis of viral DNA. Changes at the three highly conserved acidic residues in the IN core domain (D-64, D-116, and E-152) impair provirus formation without affecting viral DNA synthesis or the accumulation of viral DNA in the nucleus of the infected cell, a phenotype predicted by each mutant's lack of in vitro integrase activity. Mutations at positions N-120, R-199, and W-235 minimally affect in vitro integrase activity, but infectious titers are severely reduced, despite normal synthesis of viral DNA, implying a defect during integration in vivo. Mutations in the zinc binding region (H12C, H16V, and H16C), S81R, and a deletion of residues 32 through 275 yield noninfectious particles that synthesize little or no viral DNA following infection, despite wild-type levels of reverse transcriptase activity and viral RNA in the particles. The two latter classes of mutants suggest that IN can affect DNA synthesis or integration during infection in ways that are not appreciated from currently used assays in vitro.
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PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase mutants retain in vitro integrase activity yet fail to integrate viral DNA efficiently during infection. 855 8

SIVsm chronically infected cultures were obtained after infection of CEMX174 cells with either SIVsmH3 or SIVsmE660. These phenotypically CD4 cells, formed syncytia but only when cocultivated with CD4+ cells. Single cell clones were derived from these cultures and examined for the production of virus-specific proteins. The majority of the clones expressed SIV p27 antigen and low levels of virus reverse transcriptase activity. Western blot analysis, performed with either monoclonal or polyclonal sera, showed that a chronically infected clone (B7) produced particles which contained envelope (gp135 and gp43), gag precursors and gag proteins (p27, p16 and p8). However, these particles (SIVsmB7) lacked detectable levels of vpx and of integrase, and contained several fusion proteins which expressed viral protease antigens. This defective virus failed to infect established CD4+ cell lines, as well as primary cultures of macrophages and of peripheral blood lymphocytes, obtained both from humans and from rhesus macaques. Lack of infection correlated with lack of viral DNA detection by PCR amplification of genomic DNA extracted from these cell cultures. In addition, SIVsmB7 virus lacked infectivity in vivo. Rhesus macaques inoculated with high concentrations of SIVsmB7 showed no viremia and their PBMC were PCR negative. Thus, B7 cells produced stable, non-infectious virus mutants, which contained env and gag proteins, but lacked detectable amounts of vpx and of enzymes required for virus replication. Due to the high constitutive expression of this virus-like particle, we are now testing this preparation as a vaccine.
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PMID:Properties of virus-like particles produced by SIV-chronically infected human cell clones. 857 47

T30177, an oligonucleotide composed of only deoxyguanosine and thymidine, is 17 nucleotides in length and contains single phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages at its 5' and 3' ends for stability. This oligonucleotide does not share significant primary sequence homology with or possess any complementary (antisense) sequence motifs to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome. T30177 inhibited replication of multiple laboratory strains of HIV-1 in human T-cell lines, peripheral blood lymphocytes, and macrophages. T30177 was also found to be capable of inhibiting multiple clinical isolates of HIV-1 and preventing the cytopathic effect of HIV-1 in primary CD4+ T lymphocytes. In assays with human peripheral blood lymphocytes there was no observable toxicity associated with T30177 at the highest concentration tested (100 microM), while the median inhibitory concentration was determined to be in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 microM for the clinical isolates tested, resulting in a high therapeutic index for this drug. In temporal studies, the kinetics of addition of T30177 to infected cell cultures indicated that, like the known viral adsorption blocking agents dextran sulfate and Chicago sky blue, T30177 needed to be added to cells during or very soon after viral infection. However, analysis of nucleic acids extracted at 12 h postinfection from cells treated with T30177 at the time of virus infection established the presence of unintegrated viral cDNA, including circular proviral DNA, in the treated cells. In vitro analysis of viral enzymes revealed that T30177 was a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 integrase, reducing enzymatic activity by 50% at concentrations in the range of 0.050 to 0.09 microM. T30177 was also able to inhibit viral reverse transcriptase activity; however, the 50% inhibitory value obtained was in the range of 1 to 10 microM, depending on the template used in the enzymatic assay. No observable inhibition of viral protease was detected at the highest concentration of T30177 used (10 microM). In experiments in which T30177 was removed from infected cell cultures at 4 days post-HIV-1 infection, total suppression of virus production was observed for more than 27 days. PCR analysis of DNA extracted from cells treated in this fashion was unable to detect the presence of viral DNA 11 days after removal of the drug from the infected cell cultures. The ability of T30177 to inhibit both laboratory and clinical isolates of HIV-1 and the experimental data which suggest that T30177 represents a novel class of integrase inhibitors indicate that this compound is a viable candidate for evaluation as a therapeutic agent against HIV-1 in humans.
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PMID:T30177, an oligonucleotide stabilized by an intramolecular guanosine octet, is a potent inhibitor of laboratory strains and clinical isolates of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. 858 21

A DNA sequence, TPE1, representing the internal domain of a Ty1-copia retroelement, was isolated from genomic DNA of Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii (slash pine). Genomic Southern analysis showed that this sequence, carrying partial reverse transcriptase and integrase gene sequences, is highly amplified within the genome of slash pine and part of a dispersed element >4.8 kbp. Fluorescent in situ hybridization to metaphase chromosomes shows that the element is relatively uniformly dispersed over all 12 chromosome pairs and is highly abundant in the genome. It is largely excluded from centromeric regions and intercalary chromosomal sites representing the 18S-5.8S-25S rRNA genes. Southern hybridization with specific DNA probes for the reverse transcriptase gene shows that TPE1 represents a large subgroup of heterogeneous Ty1-copia retrotransposons in Pinus species. Because no TPE1 transcription could be detected, it is most likely an inactive element--at least in needle tissue. Further evidence for inactivity was found in recombinant reverse transcriptase and integrase sequences. The distribution of TPE1 within different gymnosperms that contain Ty1-copia group retrotransposons, as shown by a PCR assay, was investigated by Southern hybridization. The TPE1 family is highly amplified and conserved in all Pinus species analyzed, showing a similar genomic organization in the three- and five-needle pine species investigated. It is also present in spruce, bald cypress (swamp cypress), and in gingko but in fewer copies and a different genomic organization.
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PMID:The genomic and physical organization of Ty1-copia-like sequences as a component of large genomes in Pinus elliottii var. elliottii and other gymnosperms. 861 Jan 5

Human immunodeficiency type 1 particle maturation is dependent upon proteolytic cleavage of the gag and gag-pol precursors by the pol-encoded viral protease. We have investigated the importance of domains of pol other than the protease for particle maturation and gag proteolytic processing. Truncations of the gag-pol polyprotein precursor of HIV-1 were created by deleting segments of the reverse transcriptase coding region or by introducing stop codons in the integrase region of an HIV-1 infectious molecular clone. In these mutants, the protease coding sequence was left intact. Particles produced by all of the mutants displayed abnormal morphologies and impaired proteolytic processing of gag. The severity of particle morphology abnormalities and of gag polyprotein processing impairment appeared to be affected both by the size and by the position of the deletions in pol, suggesting that the integrity of several pol domains within the gag-pol precursor is required for optimal protease activation and particle maturation. Additionally, cotransfection of a deletion mutant with wild-type provirus led to a marked reduction in the titer of infectious virus, suggesting that truncated gag-pol precursors can interfere with wild-type virus assembly and maturation.
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PMID:Extensive regions of pol are required for efficient human immunodeficiency virus polyprotein processing and particle maturation. 862 42


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