Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.23.16 (HIV-1 protease)
 2,107 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The crystal structure of an actual HIV-1 protease-substrate complex is presented at 2.0 A resolution (R-value of 19.7 % (R(free) 23.3 %)) between an inactive variant (D25N) of HIV-1 protease and a long substrate peptide, Lys-Ala-Arg-Val-Leu-Ala-Glu-Ala-Met-Ser, which covers a full binding epitope of capsid(CA)-p2, cleavage site. The substrate peptide is asymmetric in both size and charge distribution. To accommodate this asymmetry the two protease monomers adopt different conformations burying a total of 1038 A(2) of surface area at the protease-substrate interface. The specificity for the CA-p2 substrate peptide is mainly hydrophobic, as most of the hydrogen bonds are made with the backbone of the peptide substrate. Two water molecules bridge the two monomers through the loops Gly49-Gly52 (Gly49'-Gly52') and Pro79'-Val82' (Pro79-Val82). When other complexes are compared, the mobility of these loops is correlated with the content of the P1 and P1' sites. Interdependence of the conformational changes allows the protease to exhibit its wide range of substrate specificity.
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PMID:How does a symmetric dimer recognize an asymmetric substrate? A substrate complex of HIV-1 protease. 1096 16

Saquinavir is a widely used HIV-1 protease inhibitor drug for AIDS therapy. Its effectiveness, however, has been hindered by the emergence of resistant mutations, a common problem for inhibitor drugs that target HIV-1 viral enzymes. Three HIV-1 protease mutant species, G48V, L90M, and G48V/L90M double mutant, are associated in vivo with saquinavir resistance by the enzyme (Jacobsen et al., 1996). Kinetic studies on these mutants demonstrate a 13.5-, 3-, and 419-fold increase in Ki values, respectively, compared to the wild-type enzyme (Ermolieff J, Lin X, Tang J, 1997, Biochemistry 36:12364-12370). To gain an understanding of how these mutations modulate inhibitor binding, we have solved the HIV-1 protease crystal structure of the G48V/L90M double mutant in complex with saquinavir at 2.6 A resolution. This mutant complex is compared with that of the wild-type enzyme bound to the same inhibitor (Krohn A, Redshaw S, Richie JC, Graves BJ, Hatada MH, 1991, J Med Chem 34:3340-3342). Our analysis shows that to accommodate a valine side chain at position 48, the inhibitor moves away from the protease, resulting in the formation of larger gaps between the inhibitor P3 subsite and the flap region of the enzyme. Other subsites also demonstrate reduced inhibitor interaction due to an overall change of inhibitor conformation. The new methionine side chain at position 90 has van der Waals interactions with main-chain atoms of the active site residues resulting in a decrease in the volume and the structural flexibility of S1/S1' substrate binding pockets. Indirect interactions between the mutant methionine side chain and the substrate scissile bond or the isostere part of the inhibitor may differ from those of the wild-type enzyme and therefore may facilitate catalysis by the resistant mutant.
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PMID:Crystal structure of an in vivo HIV-1 protease mutant in complex with saquinavir: insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance. 1110 62

Processing of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag precursor is highly regulated, with differential rates of cleavage at the five major processing sites to give characteristic processing intermediates. We examined the role of the P1 amino acid in determining the rate of cleavage at each of these five sites by using libraries of mutants generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Between 12 and 17 substitution mutants were tested at each P1 position in Gag, using recombinant HIV-1 protease (PR) in an in vitro processing reaction of radiolabeled Gag substrate. There were three sites in Gag (MA/CA, CA/p2, NC/p1) where one or more substitutions mediated enhanced rates of cleavage, with an enhancement greater than 60-fold in the case of NC/p1. For the other two sites (p2/NC, p1/p6), the wild-type amino acid conferred optimal cleavage. The order of the relative rates of cleavage with the P1 amino acids Tyr, Met, and Leu suggests that processing sites can be placed into two groups and that the two groups are defined by the size of the P1' amino acid. These results point to a trans effect between the P1 and P1' amino acids that is likely to be a major determinant of the rate of cleavage at the individual sites and therefore also a determinant of the ordered cleavage of the Gag precursor.
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PMID:Replacement of the P1 amino acid of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag processing sites can inhibit or enhance the rate of cleavage by the viral protease. 1223 98

A series of N-benzyl pseudopeptides was designed, synthesized and tested as HIV-1 protease inhibitors. The ability of the new compounds containing N-benzyl hydroxyalkylamino acid core structure to inhibit HIV replication in cell culture is comparable to their capacity to inhibit the isolated enzyme, a result compatible with good pharmacokinetic properties of these derivatives. The pseudotripeptide Fmoc-Leu-N(Bzl)Hse-Met-NH-tBu was the best inhibitor of the series (IC(50)=170 nM) showing promising inhibition of viral replication (ED(50)=52 nM). All new compounds exhibit high enzymatic resistance and stability against cell cultures and plasma enzymes.
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PMID:Synthesis and activity of N-benzyl pseudopeptides HIV protease inhibitors. 1273 95

The human genome harbors numerous distinct families of so-called human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) which are remnants of exogenous retroviruses that entered the germ line millions of years ago. We describe here the hitherto little-characterized betaretrovirus HERV-K(HML-5) family (named HERVK22 in Repbase) in greater detail. Out of 139 proviruses, only a few loci represent full-length proviruses, and many lack gag protease and/or env gene regions. We generated a consensus sequence from multiple alignment of 62 HML-5 loci that displays open reading frames for the four major retroviral proteins. Four HML-5 long terminal repeat (LTR) subfamilies were identified that are associated with monophyletic proviral bodies, implying different evolution of HML-5 LTRs and genes. Sequence analysis indicated that the proviruses formed approximately 55 million years ago. Accordingly, HML-5 proviral sequences were detected in Old World and New World primates but not in prosimians. No recent activity is associated with this HERV family. We also conclude that the HML-5 consensus sequence primer binding site is identical to methionine tRNA. Therefore, the family should be designated HERV-M. Our study provides important insights into the structure and evolution of the oldest betaretrovirus in the primate genome known to date.
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PMID:Human endogenous retrovirus family HERV-K(HML-5): status, evolution, and reconstruction of an ancient betaretrovirus in the human genome. 1528 Apr 87

Drug resistance is a very important factor contributing to the failure of current HIV therapies. The ability to understand the resistance mechanism of HIV-protease mutants may be useful in developing more effective and longer lasting treatment regimens. In this paper, we report the first computational study of the clinically relevant E35D mutation of HIV-1 protease in its unbound conformation and complexed with the clinical inhibitor amprenavir and a sample substrate (Thr-Ile-Met-Met-Gln-Arg). Our data, collected from 10 ns molecular-dynamics simulations, show that the E35D mutation results in an increased flexibility of the flaps, thereby affecting the conformational equilibrium between the closed and semi-open conformations of the free protease. The E35D mutation also causes a significant reduction of the calculated binding free energies both for substrate and amprenavir, thus giving a plausible explanation for its ability to increase the level of resistance. One possible explanation for the emergence of this mutation, despite its unfavorable effect on substrate affinity, might be the role of E35D as an escape mutation, which favors escape from the immune system in addition to conferring drug resistance.
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PMID:Insights into amprenavir resistance in E35D HIV-1 protease mutation from molecular dynamics and binding free-energy calculations. 1679 10

The wild type Copia Gag precursor protein of Drosophila melanogaster expressed in Escherichia coli was shown to be processed autocatalytically to generate two daughter proteins with molecular masses of 33 and 23 kDa on SDS/PAGE. The active-site motif of aspartic proteinases, Asp-Ser-Gly, was present in the 23 kDa protein corresponding to the C-terminal half of the precursor protein. The coding region of this daughter protein (152 residues) in the copia gag gene was expressed in E. coli to produce the recombinant enzyme protein as inclusion bodies, which was then purified and refolded to create the active enzyme. Using the peptide substrate His-Gly-Ile-Ala-Phe-Met-Val-Lys-Glu-Val-Asn (cleavage site: Phe-Met) designed on the basis of the sequence of the cleavage-site region of the precursor protein, the enzymatic properties of the proteinase were investigated. The optimum pH and temperature of the proteinase toward the synthetic peptide were 4.0 and 70 degrees C respectively. The proteolytic activity was increased with increasing NaCl concentration in the reaction mixture, the optimum concentration being 2 M. Pepstatin A strongly inhibited the enzyme, with a Ki value of 15 nM at pH 4.0. On the other hand, the active-site residue mutant, in which the putative catalytic aspartic acid residue was mutated to an alanine residue, had no activity. These results show that the Copia proteinase belongs to the family of aspartic proteinases including HIV proteinase. The B-chain of oxidized bovine insulin was hydrolysed at the Leu15-Tyr16 bond fairly selectively. Thus the recombinant Copia proteinase partially resembles HIV proteinase, but is significantly different from it in certain aspects.
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PMID:Isolation and characterization of recombinant Drosophila Copia aspartic proteinase. 1681 67

Inhibition of HIV-1 protease enzyme can render the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) non-infectious in vitro. Previous studies have shown that several shorter peptides were discovered as HIV-1 protease inhibitors. In this context, a series of shorter synthetic hexapeptides, Leu-Leu-Glu-Tyr-Val-Xaa (Xaa=Phe, Met, Tyr and Trp), were designed. The synthesized hexa peptides were screened for their HIV-1 protease inhibition. These peptides showed moderately good HIV-1 protease inhibition when compared to acetyl pepstatin.
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PMID:Design, synthesis and structure-activity study of shorter hexa peptide analogues as HIV-1 protease inhibitors. 1798 Oct 43

Inhibitors of human immunodeficiency virus-1(HIV-1) proteinase have been used for several years to treat acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients. Despite intensive research, however, the substrate specificity of this enzyme is not completely elucidated. Here, we assessed the HIV-1 proteinase P(4) to P(2) substrate specificity using a bacterial screening system. In this system, the bacterial enzyme beta-galactosidase has been transformed into an HIV-1 proteinase substrate by insertion of the p6/PR cleavage site. Consequently, HIV-1 processing can be determined by measuring the beta-galactosidase activity on X-gal plates and by examination of the extent of cleavage of the beta-galactosidase protein itself. We screened a library containing randomized sequences at the P(4) to P(2) positions and found strong preferences for Thr, Ser, and Pro at P(4), for Leu, Met, and Phe at P(3), and for Ser, Met, and Leu at P(2). The frequent observations of Thr at P(4) and Ser at P(2) extend previous findings and offer the possibility of producing inhibitors with different properties. These new data on HIV proteinase specificity illustrate the usefulness of random libraries in the genetic screening system. This approach can be applied to examine any proteinase that has a recognition site extending across several amino acids.
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PMID:Investigating human immunodeficiency virus-1 proteinase specificity at positions P4 to P2 using a bacterial screening system. 1838 38

The binding mechanism of a peptide substrate (Thr-Ile-Met-Met-Gln-Arg, cleavage site p2-NC of the viral polyprotein) to wild-type HIV-1 protease has been investigated by 1.6 micros biased all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit water. The configuration space has been explored biasing seven reaction coordinates by the bias-exchange metadynamics technique. The structure of the Michaelis complex is obtained starting from the substrate outside the enzyme within a backbone rmsd of 0.9 A. The calculated free energy of binding is -6 kcal/mol, and the kinetic constants for association and dissociation are 1.3 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) and 57 s(-1), respectively, consistent with experiments. In the main binding pathway, the flaps of the protease do not open sizably. The substrate slides inside the enzyme cavity from the tight lateral channel. This may contrast with the natural polyprotein substrate which is expected to bind by opening the flaps. Thus, mutations might influence differently the binding kinetics of peptidomimetic ligands and of the natural substrate.
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PMID:Substrate binding mechanism of HIV-1 protease from explicit-solvent atomistic simulations. 1964 90


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