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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)

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase substitutes for temperature-sensitive DNA polymerase I (Pol Its) in Escherichia coli, providing a screen for anti-HIV reverse transcriptase nucleoside analogs in bacteria. Since phosphorylation of nucleosides in E. coli is limited to thymidine and its derivatives, we coexpressed herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase, an enzyme that phosphorylates a wide variety of nucleoside analogs, together with HIV reverse transcriptase. Coexpression of herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase and HIV reverse transcriptase rendered Pol Its cells sensitive to dideoxycytidine. Studies with different nucleoside analogs indicate that this bacterial screening system is able to select and identify nucleoside analogs that specifically target HIV reverse transcriptase.
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PMID:A screen in Escherichia coli for nucleoside analogs that target human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase: coexpression of HIV reverse transcriptase and herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase. 754 49

An improved non-radioisotopic (Non-RI) reverse transcriptase (RT) assay with a template-primer-immobilized microtiter plate is described, which has greater sensitivity than the former Non-RI RT assay previously described. Non-RI and commercially available non-radioactive (Non-RA) RT assays were compared for their ability to detect various polymerases. Two RTs from Rous-associated virus 2 (RAV-2) and avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV), one polymerase from Escherichia coli (Pol-I) and one recombinant RT of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) were assessed. Two HIV-1 samples in a culture supernatant and pelleted virion suspended in Triton X-100 solution were measured. The Non-RI RT assay was one hundred times more sensitive by RAV-2 and Pol-I polymerases, and one thousand times more sensitive by the Non-RA assay than by the AMV RT. The Non-RI RT assay was 10, 16 and 64 times more sensitive than the Non-RA assay for measuring recombinant HIV-1 RT, pelleted virus and virus suspended in culture medium, respectively. To explain the discrepancy, it is shown that free biotin, such as in culture medium, disturbs the assay system of the Non-RA RT assay, but not the Non-RI assay. The present assay can be used to clarify the inhibitory mechanism of an anti-HIV-1 substance.
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PMID:Comparable sensitivities for detection of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and other polymerases by RT assays requiring no radioisotopic materials. 754 93

Some retroviruses, including HIV-1, regulate the relative amounts of gag and pol gene products by a translational frameshift mechanism. The consequences of altering the ratios of the Gag and Pol proteins were tested using vaccinia virus expression vectors, in which the gag and pol genes were fused by placing them in the same open reading frame. Immunoblotting of cell lysates indicated that a protein of approximately 160 kDa, the expected translation product of the fused gag-pol gene, was the dominant species detected with HIV-specific antiserum during the first several hours of infection with this recombinant virus. Subsequently, the full-length polyprotein diminished in amount and a series of Gag-related intermediate size proteins appeared. Later in infection, p24 and myristoylated p17 Gag proteins predominated and larger amounts of intracellularly processed reverse transcriptase, integrase, and protease were detected compared to the amounts formed with the wild-type gag-pol gene. Large numbers of budding, immature, and mature retrovirus-like particles were visualized by electron microscopy when the wild-type gag-pol gene was expressed, whereas no particles were detected in cells that expressed the fused gag-pol gene. The block to virus assembly was partially overcome by (i) inhibition of the HIV-1 protease with a peptidomimetic inhibitor, (ii) mutagenesis of the active site of the protease, or (iii) shortening of the Gag-Pol polyprotein by deletion of most of the reverse transcriptase gene. Nevertheless, budding was inefficient and the structures appeared immature and frequently aberrant. These results indicated that overproduction of the full-length Gag-Pol polyprotein and increased intracellular protease activity were both detrimental to viral assembly. Further experiments indicated that intracellular processing of Gag and Gag-Pol polyproteins occurred in the absence of particle formation when myristoylation was prevented.
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PMID:Overexpression of the HIV-1 gag-pol polyprotein results in intracellular activation of HIV-1 protease and inhibition of assembly and budding of virus-like particles. 768 10

We have prepared a plasmid, pRC-RT, for expression of HXB2 HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) in Escherichia coli (Becerra et al., Biochemistry 30, 11707-11719, 1991). Here we describe the optimization of RT overexpression and its purification. In pRC-RT, the precise RT coding region of HXB2 proviral DNA is flanked by start and stop codons, and expression is driven by the phage lambda pL promoter in a temperature-inducible system. The 64,484-Da RT polypeptide (termed p66) is expressed as approximately 10% of total cell protein after 2 h of induction, and the RT is readily solubilized and purified free of DNA Pol I and to near homogeneity as a homodimer of p66 or as a heterodimer of p66 and p51, resembling the natural enzyme. After achieving appropriate expression of the full-length p66 RT, we next created vectors to express multiple individual segments of the p66 polypeptide. These segments are: a 51,000-Da peptide, representing C-terminal truncation of p66, and several peptides representing consecutive N-terminal, central, and C-terminal segments of p66. The latter peptide, corresponding to the RNase H domain of RT, has been purified in large quantities and is currently under study for solution of its structure by NMR. This peptide is devoid of enzyme activity and of substrate-binding capacity, but exists in solution as a folded globular protein with structure resembling that of E. coli ribonuclease H and that of a similar HIV-1 RT RNase H domain peptide examined by X-ray crystallography (Becerra et al., FEBS Lett. 270, 67-80, 1990). Various other RT peptides described here should prove to be similarly useful for structural studies, as well as other approaches.
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PMID:Expression of polypeptides of human immunodeficiency virus-1 reverse transcriptase in Escherichia coli. 768 63

We recently reported that a newly discovered class of nucleoside analogues--[2',5'-bis-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)- 3'-spiro-5''-(4''-amino-1'',2''-oxathiole-2'',2''-dioxide)]-beta-D - pentofuranosyl derivatives of pyrimidines and purines (designated TSAO)--are highly specific inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and targeted at the nonsubstrate binding site of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). We now find that HIV-1 strains selected for resistance against three different TSAO nucleoside derivatives retain sensitivity to the other HIV-1-specific nonnucleoside derivatives (tetrahydroimidazo[4,5,1-jk][1,4]benzodiazepin-2(1H)-one and -thione (TIBO), 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-phenylthiothymine, nevirapine, and pyridinone L697,661, as well as to the nucleoside analogues 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, ddI, ddC, and 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine. Pol gene nucleotide sequence analysis of the TSAO-resistant and -sensitive HIV-1 strains revealed a single amino acid substitution at position 138 (Glu-->Lys) in the RT of all TSAO-resistant HIV-1 strains. HIV-1 RT in which the Glu-138-->Lys substitution was introduced by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Escherichia coli could not be purified because of rapid degradation. However, HIV-1 RT containing the Glu-138-->Arg substitution was stable. It lost its sensitivity to the TSAO nucleosides but not to the other HIV-1-specific RT inhibitors (i.e., TIBO and pyridinone). Our findings point to a specific interaction of the 4''-amino group on the 3'-spiro-substituted ribose moiety of the TSAO nucleosides with the carboxylic acid group of glutamic acid at position 138 of HIV-1 RT.
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PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains selected for resistance against the HIV-1-specific [2',5'-bis-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-3'-spiro- 5''-(4''-amino-1'',2''-oxathiole-2'',2''-dioxide)]-beta-D-pentofurano syl (TSAO) nucleoside analogues retain sensitivity to HIV-1-specific nonnucleoside inhibitors. 768 67

The polymerase activity of the p51 homodimeric form of HIV reverse transcriptase was characterized by activity gel analysis, steady-state kinetic measurements, and processivity assays, and the activity was shown to be highly similar to that for the p66/p51 heterodimer. Recombinant 51- and 66-kDa reverse transcriptase proteins were individually expressed from an HIV-1 Pol gene having an accumulation of natural amino acid mutations compared to the BH10 clone (Ratner et al., 1985). The preparation of an active p51 homodimer critically depended on low temperature during its expression in bacterial cultures. Activity gel analysis demonstrates that refolded p51 protein derived from denatured p66/p51 heterodimer yields an active polymerase. The p51 homodimer has approximately one-half the activity and processivity of the heterodimer, while both enzymes have similar thermostability. Steady-state measurements reveal no significant differences in apparent affinities for substrate or homopolymeric template-primer, suggesting that the subunits in both enzyme forms have similar conformations. Template challenge experiments show that the off-rates for template-primer are lower, but as indicated by primer extension analyses, processivity is less for p51 homodimer. These results show that the RNase H domain is not essential for the assembly of the functional polymerase, but suggest that it enhances processivity.
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PMID:HIV-1 reverse transcriptase: polymerization properties of the p51 homodimer compared to the p66/p51 heterodimer. 769 Nov 76

Protease (PR)-defective avian leukosis virus particles display 300-fold-reduced levels of reverse transcriptase (RT) activity relative to wild-type particles. This observation suggests that during virion assembly RT is activated by proteolytic maturation of the Gag-Pol polyprotein precursor. To study the relationship between proteolytic cleavage and RT activation, we subjected PR-defective virion cores to digestion with purified viral PR and analyzed the structure of the major polypeptides produced as well as RT activity. Under conditions in which Gag precursors were fully matured, the RT domain was only incompletely released from the Gag-Pol precursor, remaining tethered to the upstream Gag domains PR or NC-PR. In the same reaction, RT activity was stimulated only three-fold, or 100-fold less than expected for a fully active RT. The poor activation suggested that the NC or PR domains could repress RT activity. To test this idea, we constructed recombinant baculoviruses expressing 19 different fusion proteins with upstream Gag or downstream Pol sequences attached to RT. Each protein was partially purified and assayed for its inherent RT activity. The results are consistent with the idea that Gag sequences can inhibit RT activity but indicate that the size of the Pol domain as well as the status of the PR domain (wild-type or mutant) also can profoundly influence activity. Several of the constructed Gag-Pol fusion proteins contained a wild-type PR domain. Some of these underwent intracellular PR-mediated processing, while others did not. All proteins in which the PR domain was preceded by upstream Gag sequences showed specific proteolysis. By contrast, all proteins initiated with a methionine placed one residue upstream of the natural N terminus of PR failed to show specific proteolysis. Amino-terminal sequencing of one such protein yielded the correct amino acid sequence and showed that the initiating methionine was not removed. One interpretation of these findings is that activation of PR requires the generation of the precise N terminus of the mature PR.
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PMID:Reverse transcriptase and protease activities of avian leukosis virus Gag-Pol fusion proteins expressed in insect cells. 769 75

The structural proteins and enzymes of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 core are translated as part of two polyprotein precursors, Gag and Gag-Pol, which are cleaved by a virally encoded protease. Viruses grown in the presence of inhibitors of the protease contain core particles that are aberrantly assembled, and upon infection of susceptible cells, they do not synthesize viral DNA. Through the use of a proteinase inhibitor (A77003), we determined that the viral reverse transcriptase can efficiently synthesize viral DNA as part of the unprocessed Gag-Pol precursor. We also found that the stabilities of core particles composed of unprocessed precursors were considerably enhanced. These observations suggest that for viruses composed of unprocessed precursors, replication is interrupted before the reverse transcription step.
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PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 virions composed of unprocessed Gag and Gag-Pol precursors are capable of reverse transcribing viral genomic RNA. 769 87

Previous efforts for biochemical study of the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA polymerase have been limited by its tight association with viral nucleocapsids. We report here that the soluble DNA polymerase from HBV particles was obtained by low pH treatment of the viral particles followed by incubation with small amounts of subtilisin. By these treatments, the approximately 100-kDa band in the activity gel assay was gradually converted to approximately 70 kDa, which subsequently showed reverse transcriptase activity on several exogenous templates. The single approximately 70-kDa active band, which did not show any DNA polymerase activity in endogenous reaction, was eluted through DEAE-Sepharose chromatography. These results suggest that the approximately 100-kDa protein, most likely the product of HBV Pol open reading frame, is tightly associated with viral nucleocapsids, and the approximately 70-kDa protein, the proteolytic cleavage product of approximately 100-kDa enzyme, is solubilized from viral particles as an active enzyme on exogenous templates.
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PMID:Release of the hepatitis B virus-associated DNA polymerase from the viral particle by the proteolytic cleavage. 774 34

We have created a temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, using the technique of charge-cluster-to-alanine scanning mutagenesis to introduce specific changes into the integrase coding region. In the ts mutant virus, the lysine at amino acid 136 and the glutamic acid at amino acid 138 of integrase have been replaced with alanines (K136A/E138A). When K136A/E138A is synthesized at 35 degrees C, it replicates to a similar degree as wild-type virus during infection of CEM cells at 35 degrees C on the basis of syncytium formation, levels of core antigen, and reverse transcriptase activity. However, during infection at the nonpermissive temperature of 39.5 degrees C, K136A/E138A is capable of only one round of integration. Mutant virions formed at 39.5 degrees C do not integrate but are indistinguishable from wild-type virions when scored for activity of reverse transcriptase and correct expression and processing of Gag and Pol proteins. We demonstrate that the defect responsible for the ts phenotype of K136A/E138A is localized to a step after proviral formation and integrase protein synthesis but prior to particle maturation. It is the temperature at which the K136A/E138A virion is synthesized, not the temperature at which infection occurs, which determines the ability of the virus to integrate.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of a temperature-sensitive mutant of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by alanine scanning mutagenesis of the integrase gene. 798 62


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