Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
 17,007 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have demonstrated in transient expression assays that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA polymerase transactivates expression of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene linked to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 5' long terminal repeat (LTR). The evidence was provided by two sets of experiments. Transfection of Raji cells with HIV LTR-CAT followed by superinfection with EBV resulted in a 150-fold increase in CAT activity. In the presence of viral DNA inhibitor 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT), the CAT activity was inhibited by approximately 70%, suggesting that EBV DNA polymerase was involved in the transactivation of HIV LTR. The direct proof came from the cotransfection of HIV LTR-CAT with expression plasmid containing EBV polymerase gene; depending on the polymerase gene construct cotransfection with both plasmids resulted in a 23- to 38-fold increase of HIV LTR-CAT activity. The interaction between EBV polymerase and HIV may contribute to the role of EBV as a cofactor in the pathogenesis of AIDS.
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PMID:The Epstein-Barr virus DNA polymerase transactivates the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 5' long terminal repeat. 839 25

A unique pattern of bilateral miliary retinitis due to ocular toxoplasmosis developed in a patient in the late stages of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Results of serologic tests for toxoplasmosis remained negative throughout the clinical course of his ocular disease. The retinitis was unresponsive to a brief course of anti-toxoplasmosis therapy. At autopsy, the histopathologic material was consistent with toxoplasmic retinitis and the DNA polymerase chain reaction was positive for toxoplasmosis. Recognition of this pattern of retinitis is important in the appropriate treatment of immunosuppressed patients with retinitis.
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PMID:Miliary toxoplasmic retinitis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 844 50

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are very common in the general population and can be treated with the nucleoside analogue acyclovir. Acyclovir is initially phosphorylated intracellularly in HSV-infected cells by a viral-specific thymidine kinase to acyclovir-monophosphate. The monophosphate is subsequently di- and triphosphorylated by host cellular kinases to the active form of the drug, which inhibits HSV DNA polymerase and incorporates into the elongating viral DNA and causes chain termination. Acyclovir resistance has been increasingly described and is caused by mutations in either the thymidine kinase or the DNA polymerase genes. These mutations result in decreased or absent HSV thymidine kinase production, altered affinity of the thymidine kinase for acyclovir-triphosphate, or altered affinity of the HSV DNA polymerase for acyclovir-triphosphate. Thymidine kinase deficiency accounts for approximately 95% of acyclovir-resistant isolates. Clinical disease due to acyclovir-resistant HSV occurs primarily in immunocompromised patients and is usually characterized by a chronic, progressive ulcerative mucocutaneous disease with prolonged shedding of virus. Several large surveys have been done in an effort to determine the incidence of in vitro and clinical acyclovir resistance. Among immunocompetent hosts, even those who have received > or = 6 years of continuous acyclovir, the prevalence of acyclovir-resistant isolates has remained stable at approximately 3%. Only three cases of clinical resistance of HSV to acyclovir have been reported. However, the incidence in immunocompromised patients, particularly those with AIDS and those who have had bone marrow transplants, is increasing. Transmission of acyclovir-resistant isolates from person to person has not been documented, but due to the increased use of acyclovir and newer drugs, such as famciclovir, there is great concern that this transmission might occur in the future. Continued surveillance in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts for the development of clinical acyclovir-resistant HSV disease is necessary.
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PMID:Herpes simplex virus resistance to acyclovir: clinical relevance. 854 89

Three human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains (VR4760, VR4955, and VR5120) showing double resistance to ganciclovir (GCV) and foscarnet (PFA) were isolated from three patients with AIDS who underwent multiple sequential courses of therapy with GCV and PFA (A. Sarasini, F. Baldanti, M. Furione, E. Percivalle, R. Brerra, M. Barbi, and G. Gerna, J. Med. Virol., 47:237-244, 1995). We previously demonstrated that the three strains were genetically unrelated and that each of them was present as a single viral population in vivo. Thus, in each of the three cases, a single viral strain was resistant to both GCV and PFA. In the present paper, we report the characterization of the molecular bases of the double resistance and demonstrate that the PFA resistance is associated with a slower replication of HCMV strains in cell cultures. Sequencing of the UL97 and UL54 genes, GCV anabolism assays, and marker transfer experiments showed that GCV resistance was due to single amino acid changes in the UL97 gene product (VR4760, Met-460 --> Ile; VR4955, Ala-594 --> Val; VR5120, Leu595 --> Ser), while single amino acid changes in domain II of the DNA polymerase (VR4760 and VR5120, Val-715 --> Met; VR4955, Thr-700 --> Ala) were responsible for both the PFA resistance and the slow-growth phenotype. Thus, in these three cases, double resistance to GCV and PFA was not due to a single mutation conferring cross-resistance or to the presence of a mixture of strains with different drug susceptibilities. The HCMV DNA polymerase recombinant strains carrying the mutations conferring PFA resistance were sensitive to GCV and (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine (HPMPC). In addition, the same UL54 mutations were responsible for the slow growth of the clinical isolates, since the recombinant strains showed a marked delay in immediate-early antigen plaque formation and a reduction of infectious virus yield compared with AD169, from which they were derived. These results may have some important implications for the successful isolation, propagation, and characterization of PFA-resistant strains from clinical samples containing mixed viral populations.
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PMID:Single amino acid changes in the DNA polymerase confer foscarnet resistance and slow-growth phenotype, while mutations in the UL97-encoded phosphotransferase confer ganciclovir resistance in three double-resistant human cytomegalovirus strains recovered from patients with AIDS. 862 55

Acyclovir is an effective drug for the treatment of HSV and VZV infections, which after phosphorylation to the triphosphate, inhibits viral DNA polymerase. Acyclovir has low oral bioavailability, therefore prodrugs have been developed, and the L-valyl ester, valaciclovir, recently has been licensed for the treatment of shingles. Ganciclovir is used against CMV, and famciclovir, a lipophilic prodrug of penciclovir, is marketed for shingles. The acyclic nucleoside phosphonates are active against thymidine kinase-resistant viral strains. Promising analogs are PMEA (in clinical trial for the treatment of AIDS) and (S)-HPMPC (good in vivo activity against HSV, VZV, CMV, and EBV). Oligonucleotides incorporating acyclic nucleosides at the 3'-and 5'-ends, or constituted of amino acyclic nucleosides, are resistant to cleavage by nucleases and may be useful in antisense and/or antigene therapy. HEPT is active against HIV-1: It binds in a hydrophic pocket on reverse transcriptase, rather than in the polymerase active site. Some acyclic nucleosides are potent inhibitors of purine and pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase. These compounds may have a therapeutic niche in combination therapy with antiviral and anticancer nucleosides, and in the treatment of diseases involving the T-cell.
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PMID:Acyclic nucleosides as antiviral compounds. 873 25

The relationship of virus load to clinical disease progression in HIV-infected children remains to be elucidated. In this study, HIV-1 proviral DNA load was determined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by the quantitative competitive DNA polymerase chain reaction assay (QC-PCR) in 47 HIV-infected children subdivided by age (group I, < or = 2 years; group II, > or = 5 years), who were further categorized to include 12 rapid progressors (RP, age < or = 2 years, Centers for Disease Control [CDC] defined clinical category C and/or immune category 3, or death before age 2 years) and slow progressors (SP, age > or = 5 years, excluding CDC categories C and/or immune category 3). Significantly higher mean proviral copies/10(3) PBMCs were detected in group I versus group II (75.4 +/- 104.3 and 13.0 +/- 17.8 respectively, p < 0.0001) and in RP (158.0 +/- 118.2) as compared to either SP (11.8 +/- 18.8, p < 0.0001) or other age-matched infected children (20.3 +/- 38.8, p < 0.0001). Thus HIV-infected children appear to have a higher cell-associated virus load early in life, especially in association with rapid disease progression.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1996 May 20
PMID:Virus load as a marker of disease progression in HIV-infected children. 874 77

The high error rates characteristic of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) are a presumptive source of the viral hypermutability that impedes prevention and therapy of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We have analyzed two mutants of HIV-1 RT by conducting a comparative study of the accuracy of DNA synthesis. Each mutant bears a single amino acid substitution adjacent to the two aspartic acid residues at positions 185 and 186 in the highly conserved DNA polymerase active site. The first mutant, Met 184-->Leu (M184L), displays a marked reduction in both misinsertion and mispair extension, suggesting a fidelity of DNA synthesis significantly higher than that of the wild-type HIV-1 RT. The second mutant, Tyr 183-->Phe (Y183F), shows a decrease in mispair extension with no significant change in misincorporation. Thus, the overall pattern of error-proneness of DNA synthesis is: wild-type HIV-1 RT > Y183F > M184L. Taken together, it is possible that residues 183 and 184 contribute to the low fidelity of DNA synthesis characteristic of the reverse transcriptases of HIV-1, HIV-2 and possibly, of other lentiviruses. Our observations may bear on the nature of potential mutations responsible for resistance to the nucleoside analogs used in chemotherapy of AIDS.
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PMID:Mutational studies of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase: the involvement of residues 183 and 184 in the fidelity of DNA synthesis. 876 85

Heparin (Hep) and sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) have been reported to inhibit HIV infection in vitro. In vivo, anticoagulant activity and reduced bioavailability were found to limit the antiviral effects of Hep. In this investigation, three nonanticoagulant N-acylated Hep conjugates [OI1:3Hep, Pal1:5Hep, and Pal1:5Hep(SO4)] were compared to Hep for their ability to interact with HIV replication in CD4-positive cell lines and PBMCs. Resulfated palmitoyl-Hep [Pal1:5Hep(SO4)] exhibited the strongest anti-HIV effects. For instance, no provirus HIV DNA was detected in the genome of HIV-1-LAI-infected PBMCs treated with this heparin derivative. Cell-to-cell fusion and RT activity were explored to explain these differences. Hep and Pal1:5Hep(SO4) derivative exerted identical effects on cell-to-cell fusion. On the other hand, Pal1:5Hep(SO4) displayed the strongest inhibitory effects in the acellular RT inhibition assay. This suggests that RT might be a second target for N-acylated Hep, even though SP uptake and the preferential effects of SPs on RT as opposed to DNA polymerase have not yet been demonstrated. Nevertheless, considering the anticoagulant, antiviral, and antiinflammatory effects of N-acylated Hep, the N-acylated Hep derivatives might be excellent candidates as new anti-HIV pharmacological tools.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1996 Jan 01
PMID:Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus infection by heparin derivatives. 882 20

Cidofovir is a nucleotide analogue which inhibits viral DNA polymerase and is effective against human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. It is phosphorylated to its active form by cellular enzymes. With the long intracellular half-life of its metabolites, cidofovir can be administered weekly during induction and every other week during maintenance therapy. Viral resistance has not been documented in patients treated with cidofovir to date, but has developed in vitro. Immediate cidofovir therapy delayed progression of CMV retinitis compared with deferred treatment in patients with AIDS. Cidofovir also delayed the progression of CMV retinitis relapsing after previous treatment. To avoid nephrotoxicity, probenecid and intravenous saline hydration must be administered with each dose of cidofovir.
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PMID:Cidofovir. 884 40

The origin of AIDS-associated adenoviruses (AV 43-AV 49) was investigated by examining evolutionary relationships among 18 serologically related subgenus D serotypes and 3 intermediates and determining the mutation rate of a single serotype, AV 48, among clinical isolates from AIDS patients over a 6-year period. Nucleotide sequence of conserved and seven hypervariable regions (HVRs) of the hexon protein, the pVI core protein signal peptide, and noncoding region between the two genes was determined. Among AV 48 isolates the base misincorporation rate was 3.2 per 10,000 bases over 6 years. A 6-bp deletion occurred in one isolate between short direct repeats in HVR 7. Among subgenus D serotypes mutation rates were extremely low in the pVI peptide, the 5' hexon noncoding region, and first 187 bases of hexon protein. Small 2- and 3-bp deletions between short direct repeats in a polypurine stretch in the noncoding region occurred in 3 strains. Mutation increased with proximity to the HVRs. Within HVR 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 variability consisted of extensive intrachromosomal illegitimate recombination, including deletions between short direct repeats, insertions and duplications in repetitive polypurine stretches, and numerous base substitutions. All serotypes and intermediates differed by at least one illegitimate recombination event, with one exception. We conclude that AV serotype evolution is driven by illegitimate recombination events (antigenic shift), concommitant with single base mutation (antigenic drift), and that the HVRs are "hot spots" for both. These events could be explained by slippage-misalignment of the AV DNA polymerase in repetitive polypurine stretches during single-strand DNA replication. This mutability in the surface regions of the major viral coat protein confers a distinct survival advantage to this family of viruses.
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PMID:Adenovirus serotype evolution is driven by illegitimate recombination in the hypervariable regions of the hexon protein. 887 97


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