Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In subcellular extracts of Kunjin virus-infected cells prepared by lysis and differential centrifugation, the viral RNA polymerase, RNA and proteins were associated mainly with cytoplasm. When the cytoplasmic extract (500 g supernate) of infected cells labelled for 3 h from 24 h post-infection was further fractionated by rapid centrifugation through a sucrose density gradient, all viral products were located only in dense or "heavy membrane" fractions, which contained three types of virus-induced morphologically distinct membrane structures. These dense fractions were treated with 0.5% NP40 and the soluble material was again centrifuged through a sucrose gradient for analyses as before. Viral RNA polymerase activity was retained and was associated with replicative intermediate RNA and some replicative form RNA in the peak enzyme fractions sedimenting at 20S to 40S. Enrichment of NS3 and of the small nonstructural proteins NS2A and NS2B/NS4A was apparent in these fractions which were well separated from the slow sedimenting structural proteins. No detergent-resistant structures in the "heavy membrane" fractions other than ribosome-like particles were visible. The data show that the RNA polymerase complex cosedimented with virus-induced membrane structures and remained associated with specific nonstructural proteins and replicative intermediate RNA after detergent treatment.
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PMID:Molecular and ultrastructural analysis of heavy membrane fractions associated with the replication of Kunjin virus RNA. 132 51

We have tested the hypothesis that the flavivirus nonstructural protein NS3 is a viral proteinase that generates the termini of several nonstructural proteins by using an efficient in vitro expression system and monospecific antisera directed against the nonstructural proteins NS2B and NS3. A series of cDNA constructs was transcribed by using T7 RNA polymerase, and the RNA was translated in reticulocyte lysates. The resulting protein patterns indicated that proteolytic processing occurred in vitro to generate NS2B and NS3. The amino termini of NS2B and NS3 produced in vitro were found to be the same as the termini of NS2B and NS3 isolated from infected cells. Deletion analysis of cDNA constructs localized the protease domain within NS3 to the first 184 amino acids but did not eliminate the possibility that sequences within NS2B were also required for proper cleavage. Kinetic analysis of processing events in vitro and experiments to examine the sensitivity of processing to dilution suggested that an intramolecular cleavage between NS2A and NS2B preceded an intramolecular cleavage between NS2B and NS3. The data from these expression experiments confirm that NS3 is the viral proteinase responsible for cleavage events generating the amino termini of NS2B and NS3 and presumably for cleavages generating the termini of NS4A and NS5 as well.
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PMID:In vitro processing of dengue virus type 2 nonstructural proteins NS2A, NS2B, and NS3. 214 43

The hepatitis C virus H strain (HCV-H) polyprotein is cleaved to produce at least 10 distinct products, in the order of NH2-C-E1-E2-p7-NS2-NS3-NS4A-NS4B-NS5A-NS5B -COOH. An HCV-encoded serine proteinase activity in NS3 is required for cleavage at four sites in the nonstructural region (3/4A, 4A/4B, 4B/5A, and 5A/5B). In this report, the HCV-H serine proteinase domain (the N-terminal 181 residues of NS3) was tested for its ability to mediate trans-processing at these four sites. By using an NS3-5B substrate with an inactivated serine proteinase domain, trans-cleavage was observed at all sites except for the 3/4A site. Deletion of the inactive proteinase domain led to efficient trans-processing at the 3/4A site. Smaller NS4A-4B and NS5A-5B substrates were processed efficiently in trans; however, cleavage of an NS4B-5A substrate occurred only when the serine proteinase domain was coexpressed with NS4A. Only the N-terminal 35 amino acids of NS4A were required for this activity. Thus, while NS4A appears to be absolutely required for trans-cleavage at the 4B/5A site, it is not an essential cofactor for serine proteinase activity. To begin to examine the conservation (or divergence) of serine proteinase-substrate interactions during HCV evolution, we demonstrated that similar trans-processing occurred when the proteinase domains and substrates were derived from two different HCV subtypes. These results are encouraging for the development of broadly effective HCV serine proteinase inhibitors as antiviral agents. Finally, the kinetics of processing in the nonstructural region was examined by pulse-chase analysis. NS3-containing precursors were absent, indicating that the 2/3 and 3/4A cleavages occur rapidly. In contrast, processing of the NS4A-5B region appeared to involve multiple pathways, and significant quantities of various polyprotein intermediates were observed. NS5B, the putative RNA polymerase, was found to be significantly less stable than the other mature cleavage products. This instability appeared to be an inherent property of NS5B and did not depend on expression of other viral polypeptides, including the HCV-encoded proteinases.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus NS3 serine proteinase: trans-cleavage requirements and processing kinetics. 796 6

Most proteolytic cleavages in the nonstructural protein (NS) region of the flavivirus polyprotein are effected by a virus-encoded protease composed of two viral proteins, NS2B and NS3. The N-terminal 180-amino-acid-region of NS3 includes sequences with homology to the active sites of serine proteases, and there is evidence that this portion of NS3 can mediate proteolytic cleavages. In contrast, nothing is known about required sequences in NS2B. We constructed a series of deletion mutations in the NS2B portion of plasmid pTM/NS2B-30% NS3, which expresses dengue virus type 4 (DEN4) cDNA encoding NS2B and the N-terminal 184 residues of NS3 from the T7 RNA polymerase promoter. Mutant or wild-type plasmids were transfected into cells that had been infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing T7 RNA polymerase, and the protease activities of the expressed polyproteins were assayed by examining the extent of self-cleavage at the NS2B-NS3 junction. The results identify a 40-amino-acid segment of NS2B (DEN4 amino acids 1396 to 1435) essential for protease activity. A hydrophobicity profile of DEN4 NS2B predicts this segment constitutes a hydrophilic domain surrounded by hydrophobic regions. Hydrophobicity profiles of the NS2B proteins of other flaviviruses show similar patterns. Amino acid sequence alignment of this domain of DEN4 NS2B with comparable regions of other proteins of flaviviruses indicates significant sequence conservation, especially at the N-terminal end. These observations suggest that the central hydrophilic domain of NS2B of these other flaviviruses will also prove to be essential for protease activity.
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PMID:Deletion analysis of dengue virus type 4 nonstructural protein NS2B: identification of a domain required for NS2B-NS3 protease activity. 838 25

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus that has been classified in the Flaviviridae family. The genome of 9400 nucleotides comprises two non-coding regions in 5' and 3' flanking a large reading frame which codes for a polyprotein of 3000 amino acids; this polyprotein is further cleaved into structural (C, E1, E2) and non-structural (NS1, NS2, NS3, NS4, NS5) proteins. The positive RNA acts as a cap-independent messenger; the transcription is mediated by the NS5 RNA polymerase. After the maturation step, the virion is liberated by budding through the cytoplasmic membrane. As for many other RNA viruses, the HCV genome exhibits a high degree of variability, especially in the E2/NS1, E1, NS3 and NS5b regions. Conversely the 5' non-coding region is highly conserved, at least in part, and can be used for diagnostic purposes by PCR technique. Six genotypes of HCV have already been reported, numbered from 1 to 6 in Simmonds' classification. The same genotype can be divided into subtypes (for instance, genotype 1 comprises three subtypes: 1a, 1b and 1c). Various minor variants of the same strain, called quasispecies, are commonly present in the blood of the same patient. Strains of genotype 1b--which is the most widespread worldwide--are correlated with more severe clinical manifestations, greater viral loads and lower response to interferon treatment. The high variability of the HCV genome contributes greatly to the difficulty of designing potent vaccines.
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PMID:Structure, genomic organization, replication and variability of hepatitis C virus. 891 41

The cytopathogenic biotype of the pestivirus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, is frequently a product of nonhomologous recombination in the region of the genome encoding the viral NS2-NS3 proteins. The possibility that sequences or structures in this region contributed to a hotspot for RNA recombination was examined. A PCR-based strategy was used to examine viral genomic RNA isolated from tissue samples of cattle persistently infected with the noncytopathogenic biotype of the virus. Analysis of two different regions of the viral genome revealed that recombination was not restricted to particular sequences. Alignment of the genomic sequences undergoing recombination and examination of the predicted secondary structures of the participating RNAs revealed that the dissociation of partial, newly synthesized negative strand RNAs from the positive strand template occurred at many different sites on the molecule. Similarly, it appeared that the reassociation of the RNA polymerase complex with a second positive strand template was frequently influenced by short regions of homology between the nascent RNA strand and open secondary structures in the template molecule.
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PMID:Genome instability in BVDV: an examination of the sequence and structural influences on RNA recombination. 965 53

The hepatitis C virus is a single-stranded RNA virus with a genome approximately 9,000 nucleotides in length. The genome consists of a single, large open reading frame (ORF) and 5' and 3' untranslated regions. The highly conserved 5' untranslated region is 341 nucleotides in length with a complex secondary structure and may function as an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). The 3' untranslated region is approximately 500 nucleotides in length and contains a hypervariable region, followed by a poly(U) sequence and a highly conserved 98-nucleotide element with a stable secondary structure. The ORF codes form a single polyprotein that is processed into as many as 10 polypeptides, including a capsid protein (core), two envelope proteins (E1 and E2), and nonstructural proteins (NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5). Potentially suitable antiviral targets include the IRES, protease, helicase, and RNA polymerase. In vitro studies show that antisense oligonucleotides can inhibit the production of structural HCV proteins and may be therapeutically useful if the problems of stability and delivery can be solved. The binding of HCV envelope proteins to CD81, a potential receptor for viral entry into hepatocytes, has recently been described and also raises the possibility of agents to block the binding to CD81 or the entry of the virus into cells.
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PMID:Hepatitis C--virology and future antiviral targets. 1065 56

Most of the seven flavivirus nonstructural proteins (NS1 to NS5) encoded in the distal two-thirds of the RNA positive-sense genome are believed to be essential components of RNA replication complexes. To explore the functional relationships of these components in RNA replication, we used trans-complementation analysis of full-length infectious RNAs of Kunjin (KUN) virus with a range of lethal in-frame deletions in the nonstructural coding region, using as helper a repBHK cell line stably producing functional replication complexes from KUN replicon RNA. Recently we showed that replication of KUN RNAs with large carboxy-terminal deletions including the entire RNA polymerase region in the NS5 gene, representing 34 to 75% of the NS5 coding content, could be complemented after transfection into repBHK cells. In this study we have demonstrated that KUN RNAs with deletions of 84 to 97% of the NS1 gene, or of 13 to 63% of the NS3 gene including the entire helicase region, were also complemented in repBHK cells with variable efficiencies. In contrast, KUN RNAs with deletions in any of the other four nonstructural genes NS2A, NS2B, NS4A, and NS4B were not complemented. We have also demonstrated successful trans complementation of KUN RNAs containing either combined double deletions in the NS1 and NS5 genes or triple deletions in the NS1, NS3, and NS5 genes comprising as much as 38% of the entire nonstructural coding content. Based on these and our previous complementation results, we have generated a map of cis- and trans-acting elements in RNA replication for the nonstructural coding region of the flavivirus genome. These results are discussed in the context of our model on formation and composition of the flavivirus replication complex, and we suggest molecular mechanisms by which functions of some defective components of the replication complex can be complemented by their wild-type counterparts expressed from another (helper) RNA molecule.
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PMID:cis- and trans-acting elements in flavivirus RNA replication. 1070 42

West Nile virus was recovered from the brain of a red-tailed hawk that died in Westchester County, N.Y., in February 2000. Multiple foci of glial cells, lymphocytes, and a few pyknotic nuclei were observed in the brain. Three to 4 days after inoculation of Vero cells with brain homogenates, cytopathic changes were detected. The presence of West Nile virus antigen in fixed cells or cell lysates was revealed by fluorescent antibody testing or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Furthermore, Reverse transcriptase-PCR with primers specific for the NS3 gene of West Nile virus resulted in an amplicon of the expected size (470 bp). Electron microscopy of thin sections of infected Vero cells revealed the presence of viral particles approximately 40 nm in diameter, within cytoplasmic vesicles. The demonstration of infection with the West Nile virus in the dead of the winter, long after mosquitoes ceased to be active, is significant in that it testifies to the survival of the virus in the region beyond mosquito season and suggests another route of transmission: in this case, prey to predator.
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PMID:Recovery and identification of West Nile virus from a hawk in winter. 1092 91

An inducible in vitro cell culture system was developed to assay HCV replication by direct biochemical means. A transcription plasmid containing a T7 promoter at the 5' end, full-length cDNA of the HCV genome, a ribozyme sequence from the antigenomic strand of hepatitis delta virus and a T7 terminator was prepared. To facilitate high-level transcription of HCV RNA, HepG2 cells were infected with replication deficient adenovirus containing the T7 RNA polymerase gene and later transfected with the transcription plasmid containing the full-length HCV genome. This transfection-based cell culture system expressed high levels of HCV structural (core, El and E2) and non-structural proteins (NS3 and NS5B) detectable by Western blot and immunofluorescence assays. Production of HCV RNA transcripts and presence of replicative negative strand of HCV was confirmed by ribonuclease protection assay indicating replication of HCV in the transfected HepG2 cell. The transfected HepG2 cells assembled 50-60 nm virus-like particles, which could be aggregated by anti-E2 antibodies. This model can be utilized for studying mechanisms of HCV replication, assembly of HCV particles and to test potential anti-HCV compounds.
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PMID:Inducible model to study negative strand RNA synthesis and assembly of hepatitis C virus from a full-length cDNA clone. 1133 40


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