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)

The hepatitis B virus, although containing a DNA genome, replicates by reverse transcription of an RNA pregenome. The viral Pol gene encodes the reverse transcriptase which catalyzes viral DNA synthesis. To study the interaction of this protein with HBV RNA, the entire Pol gene product was expressed except its eight amino-terminal codons in Escherichia coli as fusion protein with beta-galactosidase. In the absence of competing nucleic acids full-length expression products were able to nonspecifically bind in vitro synthesized HBV RNAs of different polarity and length. However, if competed with an excess of unspecific RNA, only those HBV RNAs were bound which contained besides the direct repeats 1 and 2 nucleotide sequences downstream of direct repeat 1. The corresponding binding site was found to be located within the adjacent 134 nucleotides downstream of DR1. We conclude from our data that this region which is in part homologous to the U5 region of retroviral genomes may be important for the binding of the HBV Pol gene product to the viral pregenome.
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PMID:Identification of a binding site in the hepatitis B virus RNA pregenome for the viral Pol gene product. 170 31

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

The structural and enzymatic components of retroviral cores are formed by proteolytic cleavage of precursor polypeptides, mediated by the viral protease (PR). We described previously the construction of PR-defective avian leukosis viruses. These mutant viruses are noninfectious, and their major internal components are the uncleaved gag and gag-pol polyproteins (Pr76gag and Pr180gag-pol). The reverse transcriptase (RT) activity associated with the PR-defective virions is approximately 500-fold reduced relative to that of wild-type virions, suggesting that specific cleavages activate RT activity. To gain a better understanding of the role that PR plays in the processing and activation of RT, we performed complementation experiments wherein wild-type or PR mutant gag precursors were separately coexpressed with frame-corrected wild-type or PR mutant gag-pol precursors. The results demonstrate that, as in other retrovirus systems, gag-pol precursors can be assembled into virions only when they are rescued by a gag precursor. If the gag precursor is wild type, then the rescued Pr180gag-pol is completely and properly matured, irrespective of whether its embedded PR domain is wild type or mutant. In both cases, the virions produced are fully and equally infectious. This indicates that an active-site mutation in the PR domain of the gag-pol precursor has no effect on avian leukosis virus infectivity when particles are assembled from wild-type gag precursors. In contrast, if the gag precursor has an active-site mutation in PR or is deleted for PR, then the virions are noninfectious and the gag and gag-pol precursors remain unprocessed, even if the embedded PR domain of Pr180gag-pol is wild type. Thus, in this system, virion-associated Pr180gag-pol displays no detectable cis- or trans-acting PR activity. As assayed with an exogenous template, virions with processed gag-pol polyprotein display high levels of RT activity while those with unprocessed Pr180gag-pol display greatly reduced RT activity. These results demonstrate that during virion assembly, the PR supplied by a gag precursor is both necessary and sufficient for trans-activation of RT through proteolytic maturation of copackaged gag-pol polyprotein.
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PMID:trans-acting viral protease is necessary and sufficient for activation of avian leukosis virus reverse transcriptase. 171 19

The rational design of antiviral agents targeting the reverse transcriptase (RT) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) would greatly benefit from a more intimate knowledge of the structure of RT. Until now, the degree of sequence similarity between RT and E. coli DNA polymerase I (Pol I) has been thought to be confined to several small regions, suggesting little basis for homology molecular modeling. However, we have found that a region in the C terminal of the RT polymerase domain is homologous to a central region of Pol I that lies between the universal polymerase motifs A and C (specifically, helices N-O-P of the Pol I crystal structure); a single transposition closely aligns the RT and Pol I genes, revealing a similar domain structure with 20% residue identity, as well as the possible structural correlates of several RNA-dependent polymerase motifs. The RT from Myxococcus xanthus (a bacterium believed to have diverged from other species 2 billion years ago), if similarly transposed, shows homology to both HIV-1 and E. coli, suggesting the possibility of a very ancient divergence between the RT and Pol I polymerase genes. A second even more significant match to this E. coli region was found in the retroviral ribonuclease H (RNase H) domain, and corresponds precisely to a region that has been aligned by previous investigators with the E. coli RNase H, suggesting that Pol I helices O and P are homologous to helices A and D of the RNase H crystal structure, respectively. These results are consistent with a modular theory of molecular evolution.
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PMID:A transposition of the reverse transcriptase gene reveals unexpected structural homology to E. coli DNA polymerase I. 172 84

Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) and its relatives are unique in that they appear to encode their viral protease in the gag reading frame. As a result, this 124-amino-acid sequence is found at the carboxy terminus of each Gag precursor molecule and, upon ribosome frameshifting, embedded within each Gag-Pol molecule. However, rigorous proof has never been obtained for the activity of this 124-amino-acid Gag domain during virion assembly in vivo. If the active protease actually included amino acids encoded downstream in the pol reading frame, then the sequence organization would be more in line with those of other retroviruses. To examine this issue, mutations that disrupt the addition of amino acids by ribosome frameshifting were analyzed for their effects on particle assembly and Gag processing in a mammalian expression system (J. W. Wills, R. C. Craven, and J. A. Achacoso, J. Virol. 63:4331-4343, 1989). A 2-base substitution which created a nonsense mutation in the pol reading frame and was predicted to disrupt the hairpin structure of the ribosome frameshift signal had no effect on particle assembly or Gag processing, definitively showing that downstream amino acids are unnecessary. Mutations that fused the gag and pol reading frames to place 85 amino acids at the carboxy terminus of Gag hindered particle assembly and totally abolished the activity of the protease. A smaller fusion protein containing only the seven-amino-acid spacer peptide that links Gag and reverse transcriptase allowed particle formation but slowed processing. The reduced rate of processing exhibited by this mutant also revealed a previously unnoticed series of late maturation steps associated with the RSV capsid (CA) protein. Another mutant containing two substituted amino acids plus one additional amino acid at the carboxy terminus of protease nearly abolished processing. Together, these results demonstrate the importance of the carboxy terminus for proteolytic activity and suggest that this end must be unrestrained for optimal activity. If this hypothesis is correct, then the RSV protease may be encoded at the end of gag simply to ensure the production of a free carboxy terminus by translational termination.
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PMID:Amino acids encoded downstream of gag are not required by Rous sarcoma virus protease during gag-mediated assembly. 184 88

The expression of the gag-pol polyprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) occurs via ribosomal frameshifting between the gag and pol genes. Because low levels of the gag-pol precursor are naturally produced in HIV-1-infected cells, a limited amount of information is available on the biology of this molecule. To further study this polyprotein, two mutant HIV-1 proviral genomes were created to position the gag and pol genes in the same translational reading frame. The mutations inserted a single thymidine nucleotide at the site of ribosomal frameshifting (nucleotide 1635), which results in the addition of a phenylalanine residue (frameshift 1 [FS1]), or a single adenine nucleotide, which results in the addition of a leucine residue (frameshift 2 [FS2]). Transfection of the mutant proviral genomes into COS-1 cells resulted in the expression of the p160gag-pol polyprotein precursor as well as the proteolytically processed gag and pol gene products. Metabolic labeling of the transfected cells with [3H]myristic acid revealed that the p160gag-pol and p17gag proteins expressed from the mutant genomes were myristylated. While the supernatants from COS-1 cells transfected with wild-type or mutant proviral genomes contained similar amounts of p24 antigen, the levels of reverse transcriptase were, on the average, 10 times greater in the supernatants from cells transfected with the FS1 and FS2 proviral genomes. The cells transfected with the wild-type proviral genome released infectious viral particles, while the mutant proviral genomes released p24 and reverse transcriptase in the absence of detectable particle formation. The mutant proviral genomes were completely noninfectious as determined by coculture of the transfected COS-1 cells with SupT1 cells. These results demonstrate that the gag-pol polyprotein of HIV-1 contains the appropriate signals for proteolytic processing and association with intracytoplasmic membranes in the absence of virion formation.
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PMID:Overexpression of the gag-pol precursor from human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proviral genomes results in efficient proteolytic processing in the absence of virion production. 187 Feb 15

A synthetic DNA fragment encoding a protease precursor of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV2) was cloned and expressed in bacteria and yeast. A recombinant plasmid encoding a hybrid polypeptide consisting of human superoxide dismutase and an HIV2 protease precursor of 113 amino acids was constructed for regulated intracellular expression in bacteria. Induction of this plasmid produced an autoprocessed form of the retroviral enzyme possessing the correct molecular weight. Overexpression and secretion of the protease from yeast was achieved with an expression vector encoding the yeast pheromone alpha-factor signal/leader sequence fused to a protease precursor of 115 amino acids. Amino-terminal sequence analysis confirmed that the viral enzyme exported from yeast was correctly processed from its precursor by cleavage of the predicted Ala-Pro peptide bond located at the NH2 terminus of the protease in the pol open reading frame. No additional amino acid residues were required at the COOH terminus of the protease for this autoproteolytic event. The HIV2 protease expressed in bacteria and yeast was active in an in vitro assay when tested on the HIV1 polyprotein precursor, myristylated Pr53gag. Two synthetic peptides representing junction sequences in the HIV1 gag-pol precursor were used to assay purified HIV2 protease. The enzyme exhibited a kcat/KM of 23.2 min-1 mM-1 on the HIV1 matrix-capsid junction peptide and a kcat/KM of 71.4 min-1 mM-1 on the protease-reverse transcriptase junction peptide. These rates show that the HIV2 enzyme is efficient at hydrolyzing the HIV1 peptide junctions, revealing the analogous nature of the substrate specificities of the two enzymes.
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PMID:Recombinant HIV2 protease processes HIV1 Pr53gag and analogous junction peptides in vitro. 219 46

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

Expression of the human immunodeficiency virus type I pol open reading frame in Escherichia coli led to several protease-mediated processing steps of the pol precursor polyprotein. Accumulation of two polypeptides with molecular sizes of 64 and 52 kilodaltons, with which reverse transcriptase activity is associated, was observed. The protease moiety of the precursor polyprotein accumulated as a 10-kilodalton species as a result of two specific cleavages. Furthermore, a single-amino-acid substitution in the putative active site of protease totally abolished processing of the precursor polyprotein.
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PMID:Processing protease and reverse transcriptase from human immunodeficiency virus type I polyprotein in Escherichia coli. 245 Feb 9

The nucleotide sequence of the human spumaretrovirus (HSRV) genome was determined. The 5' long terminal repeat region was analyzed by strong stop cDNA synthesis and S1 nuclease mapping. The length of the RU5 region was determined and found to be 346 nucleotides long. The 5' long terminal repeat is 1,123 base pairs long and is bound by an 18-base-pair primer-binding site complementary to the 3' end of mammalian lysine-1,2-specific tRNA. Open reading frames for gag and pol genes were identified. Surprisingly, the HSRV gag protein does not contain the cysteine motif of the nucleic acid-binding proteins found in and typical of all other retroviral gag proteins; instead the HSRV gag gene encodes a strongly basic protein reminiscent of those of hepatitis B virus and retrotransposons. The carboxy-terminal part of the HSRV gag gene products encodes a protease domain. The pol gene overlaps the gag gene and is postulated to be synthesized as a gag/pol precursor via translational frameshifting analogous to that of Rous sarcoma virus, with 7 nucleotides immediately upstream of the termination codons of gag conserved between the two viral genomes. The HSRV pol gene is 2,730 nucleotides long, and its deduced protein sequence is readily subdivided into three well-conserved domains, the reverse transcriptase, the RNase H, and the integrase. Although the degree of homology of the HSRV reverse transcriptase domain is highest to that of murine leukemia virus, the HSRV genomic organization is more similar to that of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses. The data justify classifying the spumaretroviruses as a third subfamily of Retroviridae.
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PMID:Analysis of the primary structure of the long terminal repeat and the gag and pol genes of the human spumaretrovirus. 245 55


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