Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0001175 (AIDS)
 120,706 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Reverse transcriptase (RT) was first discovered as an essential catalyst in the biological cycle of retroviruses. However, in the past years evidence has accumulated showing that RTs are involved in a surprisingly large number of RNA-mediated transpositional events that include both viral and nonviral genetic entities. Although it is probable that some RT-bearing genetic elements like the different types of AIDS viruses and the mammalian LINE family have arisen in recent geological times, the possibility that reverse transcription first took place in the early Archean is supported by (1) the hypothesis that RNA preceded DNA as cellular genetic material; (2) the existence of homologous regions of the subunit tau of the E. coli DNA polymerase III with the simian immunodeficiency virus RT, the hepatitis B virus RT, and the beta' subunit of the E. coli RNA polymerase (McHenry et al. 1988); (3) the presence of several conserved motifs, including a 14-amino-acid segment that consists of an Asp-Asp pair flanked by hydrophobic amino acids, which are found in all RTs and in most cellular and viral RNA polymerases. However, whether extant RTs descend from the primitive polymerase involved in the RNA-to-DNA transition remains unproven. Substrate specificity of the AMV and HIV-1 RTs can be modified in the presence of Mn2+, a cation which allows them to add ribonucleotides to an oligo (dG) primer in a template-dependent reaction. This change in specificity is comparable to that observed under similar conditions in other nucleic acid polymerases. This experimentally induced change in RT substrate specificity may explain previous observations on the misincorporation of ribonucleotides by the Maloney murine sarcoma virus RT in the minus and plus DNA of this retrovirus (Chen and Temin 1980). Our results also suggest that HIV-infected macrophages and T-cell cells may contain mixed polynucleotides containing both ribo- and deoxyribonucleotides. The evolutionary significance of these changes in substrate specificities of nucleic acid polymerases is also discussed.
 ...
PMID:On the early emergence of reverse transcription: theoretical basis and experimental evidence. 128 61

To investigate whether human immunodeficiency virus type 1 pol gene mutations are selected during prolonged 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC) therapy, we used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify a portion of the reverse transcriptase segment of the pol gene from the peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA of a patient with AIDS before and after an 80-week course of ddC therapy. The consensus sequence from the second sample contained a unique double mutation (ACT to GAT) in the codon for reverse transcriptase amino acid 69, causing substitution of aspartic acid (Asp) for the wild-type threonine (Thr). A mutation (ACA to ATA) also occurred in the codon for position 165, causing substitution of isoleucine (Ile) for Thr. The GAT (Asp) codon was introduced into the pol gene of a molecular clone of human immunodeficiency virus via site-directed mutagenesis. Following transfection, mutant and wild-type viruses were tested for susceptibility to ddC by a plaque reduction assay. The mutant virus was fivefold less susceptible to ddC than the wild type; cross-resistance to 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine or 2'3'-dideoxyinosine was not found. The Ile-165 mutation did not confer additional ddC resistance. The Asp-69 substitution may have contributed to the generation of resistant virus in this patient.
 ...
PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 pol gene mutations which cause decreased susceptibility to 2',3'-dideoxycytidine. 131 43

Two immunologically distinct glycoproteins, fractions C4 and C6, with a molecular weight of 28,000 and 28,500, respectively, estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, were isolated from seeds of Luffa cyclindrica using acetone precipitation, gel filtration on Sephadex G-75, and ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose CL-6B. Fractions C4 and C6 correspond to luffin-a and luffin-b, respectively, according to the ion exchange chromatographic behavior and amino acid compositions. Fraction C6 and luffin-b were characterized by a lower content of threonine and a higher content of proline than fraction C4 and luffin-a. The 2 luffins, the protein from Luffa acutangula (luffaculin) and trichosanthin exhibited an overall similarity in amino acid composition. The proteins differed in the content of aspartic acid, threonine, proline, and alanine but were otherwise similar in amino acid composition. The ribosome inactivating proteins from Luffa cylindrica seeds also possessed abortifacient activity: they were capable of inducing mid term abortion in mice, inhibiting protein synthesis in a cell-free system, and suppressing thymidine uptake by human choriocarcinoma cells. The abortifacient activity of these proteins is possibly the result of their inhibitory effects on the biosynthetic activity of implanting embryos and endometrial cells. Trichosanthin inhibits the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in acutely and chronically infected cells of lymphocyte and mononuclear phagocyte lineage with a potential in AIDS therapy. However, it is still unknown whether the proteins from Luffa cylindrica seeds also possess anti-HIV activity.
 ...
PMID:Two proteins with ribosome-inactivating, cytotoxic and abortifacient activities from seeds of Luffa cylindrica roem (Cucurbitaceae). 150 59

1. Certain metal ions have been identified as inhibitors (IC50 1-20 microM) of the aspartic proteinase of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-PR). 2. By contrast most simple metal ions do not inhibit this enzyme. 3. Those that did inhibit have in common a high charge/size ratio or "hard" acidic nature, preferring to combine covalently with oxygen donor ligands. 4. Some evidence from independent X-ray crystal structure determinations suggests that the metalloinhibitors identified here may bind in the active site of the enzyme via coordination to the carboxylate side chains of the essential active site residues Asp 25 and 125. 5. Although the measured inhibition is only microM, very few enzyme-inhibitor interactions can be taking place and so more complex metalloinhibitors with ligands that can also bind to peptide side chains of the enzyme might be significantly more potent inhibitors of HIV-PR and of viral replication.
 ...
PMID:Inhibition of HIV-1 proteinase by metal ions. 161 81

CD4, a cell surface glycoprotein expressed primarily by T lymphocytes and monocytes, interacts with HLA class II antigens to regulate the immune response. In AIDS, CD4 is the receptor for the human immunodeficiency virus, which binds to CD4 through envelope glycoprotein gp120. Delineation of the ligand-binding sites of CD4 is necessary for the development of immunomodulators and antiviral agents. Although the gp120 binding site has been characterized in detail, much less is known about the class II binding site, and it is as yet uncertain whether they partially or fully overlap. To investigate CD4 binding sites, a cellular adhesion assay between COS cells transiently transfected with CD4 and B lymphocytes expressing HLA class II antigens has been developed that is strictly dependent on the CD4--class II interaction, quantitative, and highly reproducible. Mutants of CD4 expressing amino acids with distinct physicochemical properties at positions Arg-54, Ala-55, Asp-56, and Ser-57 in V1, the first extracellular immunoglobulin-like domain, have been generated and studied qualitatively and quantitatively for interaction with HLA class II antigens, for membrane expression, for the integrity of CD4 epitopes recognized by a panel of monoclonal antibodies, and for gp120 binding. The results obtained show that the mutations in this tetrapeptide, which forms the core of a synthetic peptide previously shown to have immunosuppressive properties, affect the two binding functions of CD4 similarly, lending support to the hypothesis that the human immunodeficiency virus mimicks HLA class II binding to CD4.
 ...
PMID:Mutations in the D strand of the human CD4 V1 domain affect CD4 interactions with the human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein gp120 and HLA class II antigens similarly. 171 92

Altered T cell adherence after human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection may contribute to viral pathogenesis in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. To address this hypothesis, we assessed mechanisms of T cell adherence to extracellular matrix proteins in vitro. We found that after HIV-1 infection, both chronically infected H9 CD4+ T cells and acutely infected primary peripheral blood lymphocytes acquired the ability to adhere to the extracellular matrix glycoprotein fibronectin, to a lesser extent to type IV collagen and laminin, but not to type I collagen. H9 cells chronically infected with two of the three HIV-1 strains studied showed approximately a sevenfold increase in attachment to fibronectin, while the same cells infected with the human retrovirus HIV-2 did not. Adhesion was accompanied by changes in morphology, including marked spreading and increased filopodia. These alterations were not blocked by the protein kinase C inhibitor H-7, which did inhibit TPA-induced T cell attachment to fibronectin. Monoclonal antibodies against both the alpha 5 and the beta 1 subunits of the classical fibronectin receptor as well as an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide inhibited attachment, whereas anti-alpha 4 monoclonal antibodies and the CS1 peptide did not. Binding to collagen IV was also inhibited by the anti-beta 1 monoclonal antibody, but not the other antibodies. Cells metabolically labeled with [35S]methionine and analyzed by immunoprecipitation with polyclonal anti-beta 1 integrin antibody showed a 2.5-fold increase in integrin synthesis in infected cells compared to uninfected controls. This increase in synthesis was associated with an increase in cell surface expression of both alpha 5 and beta 1 integrins by FACS (registered trademark of Becton Dickinson for a fluorescence-activated cell sorter) analysis. Enhanced expression of integrins such as alpha 5 beta 1 may cause T cell adherence to a variety of tissues, where released viral gene products may induce some of the tissue-specific manifestations of HIV-1 infection.
 ...
PMID:HIV-1 infection of human T lymphocytes results in enhanced alpha 5 beta 1 integrin expression. 183 Dec 4

Automated N-terminal microsequencing of immune affinity-purified acquired immunodeficiency syndrome retrovirus polypeptides from infected cells was used to locate the N termini of 64-, 51-, and 34-kilodalton (kDa) polypeptides within the pol open reading frame (ORF) of the proviral DNA. The 64- and 51-kDa proteins had identical N termini (Pro-Ile-Ser-Pro-IIe-Glu-Thr-Val-) positioned 156 residues from the beginning of the pol ORF. The N terminus of the 34-kDa pol gene product, Phe-Leu-Asp-Gly-Ile-Asp-Lys-, mapped 716 residues into the pol ORF. These polypeptides were absent in an RT-negative, CD4-negative, persistently infected cell line (8E5) carrying a single defective copy of a constitutively expressed, integrated proviral DNA.
 ...
PMID:Structural characterization of reverse transcriptase and endonuclease polypeptides of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome retrovirus. 243 Jan 11

Knowledge of the tertiary structure of the proteinase from human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 is important to the design of inhibitors that might possess antiviral activity and thus be useful in the treatment of AIDS. The conserved Asp-Thr/Ser-Gly sequence in retroviral proteinases suggests that they exist as dimers similar to the ancestor proposed for the pepsins. Although this has been confirmed by X-ray analyses of Rous sarcoma virus and HIV-1 proteinases, these structures have overall folds that are similar to each other only where they are also similar to the pepsins. We now report a further X-ray analysis of a recombinant HIV-1 proteinase at 2.7 A resolution. The polypeptide chain adopts a fold in which the N- and C-terminal strands are organized together in a four-stranded beta-sheet. A helix precedes the single C-terminal strand, as in the Rous sarcoma virus proteinase and also in a synthetic HIV-1 proteinase, in which the cysteines have been replaced by alpha-aminobuytric acid. The structure reported here provides an explanation for the amino acid invariance amongst retroviral proteinases, but differs from that reported earlier in some residues that are candidates for substrate interactions at P3, and in the mode of intramolecular cleavage during processing of the polyprotein.
 ...
PMID:X-ray analysis of HIV-1 proteinase at 2.7 A resolution confirms structural homology among retroviral enzymes. 268 66

The core of the fibronectin cell-attachment site has been shown to be the tetrapeptide sequence Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS). This peptide as well as its inverted analogue Ser-Asp-Gly-Arg (SDGR) efficiently inhibit fibronectin-mediated cell attachment in vivo and in vitro. Homology searches in protein data banks revealed the presence of the peptide SDGR in the alpha 2 domain of MHC class I antigens, and a variant of RGDS, Arg-Phe-Asp-Ser (RFDS), was found highly conserved in MHC class I (alpha 1 domain) and class II antigens (beta 1 domain). Three-dimensional models of MHC class I antigens suggested that the two tetrapeptide sequences may be located at the surface of the molecule, readily available for intermolecular contacts. We propose that fibronectin-mediated and MHC-mediated cell-cell interactions have similar molecular bases and that the RGDS-like sequences participate in specific cell adhesion between lymphoid cells. The RFDS tetrapeptide was also found in the sequence of a putative polypeptide chain encoded by the HTLVIII/LAV retrovirus family, the causative agent of AIDS. These amino acid sequence homologies suggest a common molecular basis for specific interactions between the MHC class II antigens, or the AIDS virus, and the T -cell specific T4 glycoprotein.
 ...
PMID:Speculations on sequence homologies between the fibronectin cell-attachment site, major histocompatibility antigens, and a putative AIDS virus polypeptide. 300 64

The amino acid sequence of a lysozyme, (B-enzyme), from Bacillus subtilis YT-25 was determined by conventional methods. B-Enzyme comprised 117 amino acid residues and had a heterogeneous sequence in the amino-terminal region. The amino acid sequence of B-enzyme was different from those of all other lysozymes the sequences of which are known. However, the partial amino acid sequence of Ser(74) to Ser(97) of B-enzyme was homologous with that of the active-site region of hen egg-white lysozyme (Ser(36) to Ser(60], which includes one of the catalytic amino acids, Asp(52). It is interesting that B-enzyme has an amino acid sequence homologous with that of the gag protein p25 of the AIDS virus ARV-2.
 ...
PMID:Amino acid sequence of a lysozyme (B-enzyme) from Bacillus subtilis YT-25. 314 18


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next >>