Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Intrinsic protein fluorescence has been used to study dimerization of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). We observed a 25% increase of the tryptophan fluorescence of the enzyme during dissociation of the subunits induced by the addition of acetonitrile. Upon reassociation of the separated subunits, the original fluorescence emission of the heterodimer is restored. A two-state transition model for the RT dimerization process in which the dimers are in equilibrium with folded monomers is proposed. The free energy of dissociation was determined to be 12.2 (+/- 0.2) kcal/mol. In the absence of Mg2+ ions a decrease of this value was observed, whereas the addition of a synthetic primer/template (18/36mer) results in an increase of dimer stability. Analyzing the effect of Mg2+ on the establishment of the binding equilibrium, a dramatic effect with a 100-fold acceleration of the association by the divalent ion was observed.
 ...
PMID:Characterization of the dimerization process of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase heterodimer using intrinsic protein fluorescence. 768 95

We have exploited the sole tryptophan residue (Trp535) in the ribonuclease H (RNase H) domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) to study features of the isolated polypeptide (p15 RNase H) by fluorescence spectroscopy. Incubation of purified p15 RNase H with a synthetic RNA/DNA hybrid was accompanied by an alteration in Trp535 fluorescence intensity. This property was used to determine an apparent binding constant (Kapp) of 3.5 x 10(6) M-1 for p15 RNase H complexed with poly(rA)/oligo(dT)12-18 and an occluded site size of 4 nucleotides. A cooperativity coefficient (omega) of 910 was also determined which indicated that nearly three logs of the Kapp were due to cooperativity effects. Recombinant p15 RNase H preparations containing mutations at position 478 (Glu478-->Gln478) or 539 (His539 -->Phe539), which are highly conserved between bacterial and retroviral RNases H, were also analyzed. Under the same conditions, these mutants failed to bind the RNA/DNA hybrid, although they were structurally similar to the wild type polypeptide. Fluorescence spectroscopy thus appears to be an alternative and sensitive means of analyzing functional properties of the purified RNase H domain of HIV-1 RT under a variety of conditions.
 ...
PMID:Fluorimetric analysis of recombinant p15 HIV-1 ribonuclease H. 768 4

CD4 is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed on T-lymphocytes. It is a receptor for class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and for the HIV envelope glycoprotein gp120. The extracellular portion of CD4 (sCD4) is a rod-shaped molecule consisting of four domains designated D1 through D4. Denaturant-induced unfolding of sCD4 and of isolated CD4 domains, D1D2 and D3D4, was measured using both ultraviolet absorbance and fluorescence difference spectroscopy. Though both absorbance and fluorescence changes arise from changes in the solvent exposure of the intrinsic tryptophan chromophores, the unfolding curves obtained with the two techniques looked very different for sCD4 and D3D4. This dissimilarity is indicative of a greater than two-state unfolding mechanism. The global three-state fit for sCD4, which simultaneously fit both absorbance and emission data to a model with one thermodynamically stable unfolding intermediate, was significantly better than the best two-state fit, suggesting that there are two unfolding regions. Unfolding of isolated D3D4 also fit a three-state model while unfolding of isolated D1D2 fit satisfactorily to a two-state model. The unfolding of these two isolated fragments could not be summed to yield the unfolding profile of sCD4, implying that an interaction between D2 and D3 is lost by splitting sCD4 between these domains. The unfolding data of isolated D1D2 and D3D4 were used with the solvent-accessible surface area of tryptophans calculated from atomic crystal structure coordinates of human D1D2 and rat D3D4 to assign the unfolding steps. The data are consistent with a model for sCD4 unfolding wherein the one stable intermediate appears to contain only the D4 domain unfolded. The remaining three domains apparently unfold as a unit. Furthermore, interactions between domains D1, D2, and D3 appear to stabilize D4, suggesting that stabilizing interactions exist between D3 and D4 even though the unfolding of the D3D4 fragment is best fit by a three-state model. This report is the first to describe a thermodynamic basis for a wide range of biological properties implicated for CD4.
 ...
PMID:Interdomain communication of T-cell CD4 studied by absorbance and fluorescence difference spectroscopy measurements of urea-induced unfolding. 775 78

Plasma concentrations of 21 amino acids were determined for 20 control subjects and 20 subjects infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV). Compared with the control subjects, the HIV-infected group had lower cystine, tryptophan, and methionine (decreased 67%, 52%, and 32%, respectively, P < 0.001 for each) and increased taurine (230%, P < 0.001) and lysine concentrations (30%, P < 0.001). Other amino acid concentrations changed modestly. Amounts of cystine, tryptophan, methionine, taurine, and lysine did not differ significantly between subgroups of HIV-infected subjects with > 200 (n = 6) or < 200 (n = 14) CD4+ lymphocytes per microliter, suggesting that the concentrations decrease soon after infection and change little thereafter. Activation of metabolism of cystine to taurine may explain reciprocal changes in these amino acids and known depletion of cystine and glutathione. The selective changes in amino acid profiles observed during HIV infection differ from those recognized for malnutrition or other pathological processes.
 ...
PMID:Changes in plasma amino acid concentrations in response to HIV-1 infection. 790 26

The interaction of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein gp120 with CD4 CDR3-related peptide derivatives showing anti-HIV-1 activity has been studied. Conformational changes in gp120, which could affect its interaction with CD4 and its shedding from virions, were detected by fluorescence spectrum analysis of tryptophan residues after addition of peptide representative of the CD4 CDR3-related region, but not the CD4 CDR2-related region. Interestingly, the addition of scrambled peptide, S1 (with altered amino acid sequence compared with the native CDR3-related peptide but unaltered overall composition), which we recently showed to have stronger anti-HIV-1 activity than the original CDR3-related peptide, had no effects on the conformational change in gp120 or on its interaction with CD4 and its shedding from HIV-1 virions. However, all of the CDR3-related peptides, including S1, showed blocking effects on the binding of antibodies against gp120 V3 loop and C-terminus regions. Thus, we concluded that there were at least two separable activities of the CDR3-related peptides in anti-HIV-1 activity, i.e. induction of conformational changes in gp120, which could affect its binding to CD4 and to gp41 (as observed in native CDR3-related peptides), and inactivation of V3 loop and C-terminus regions in gp120 (as observed in all of the CDR3-related peptides, including S1).
 ...
PMID:Multiple effects of CD4 CDR3-related peptide derivatives showing anti-HIV-1 activity on HIV-1 gp120 functions. 817 57

The fourth conserved region (C4) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) surface glycoprotein has been shown to participate in CD4 binding and to influence viral tropism (A. Cordonnier, L. Montagnier, and M. Emerman, Nature [London] 340:571-574, 1989). To define the role of the corresponding region of HIV-2, we introduce single amino acid changes into the C4 sequence of HIV-2ROD. The effects of these mutations on glycoprotein function and on virus infectivity have been examined. We have shown that the tryptophan residue at position 428 is necessary primarily for CD4 binding. The isoleucine residue at position 421 is necessary for the establishment of productive infection in the promonocytic cell line U937, while it is dispensable to some extent for infection of primary T lymphocytes or the lymphocytic cell line SUP-T1. This replication defect correlated with the failure of the Ile-421-to-Thr (Ile-421-->Thr) mutant glycoprotein to form syncytia in U937 cells. DNA analysis of revertant viruses revealed that a strong selective pressure was exerted on residue 421 of the surface glycoprotein to allow HIV-2 infection of U937 cells. These results demonstrate that this region of HIV-2 plays an important role in determining fusion efficiency in a cell-dependent manner and consequently can influence viral tropism.
 ...
PMID:Amino acid changes in the fourth conserved region of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 strain HIV-2ROD envelope glycoprotein modulate fusion. 837 58

Changes were introduced into conserved amino acids within the ectodomain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp41 transmembrane envelope glycoprotein. The effect of these changes on the structure and function of the HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins was examined. The gp41 glycoprotein contains an amino-terminal fusion peptide (residues 512 to 527) and a disulfide loop near the middle of the extracellular domain (residues 598 to 604). Mutations affecting the hydrophobic sequences between these two regions resulted in two phenotypes. Some changes in amino acids 528 to 562 resulted in a loss of the noncovalent association between gp41 and the gp120 exterior glycoprotein. Amino acid changes in other parts of the gp41 glycoprotein (residues 608 and 628) also resulted in subunit dissociation. Some changes affecting amino acids 568 to 596 resulted in envelope glycoproteins partially or completely defective in mediating membrane fusion. Syncytium formation was more sensitive than virus entry to these changes. Changes in several amino acids from 647 to 675 resulted in higher-than-wild-type syncytium-forming ability. One of these amino acid changes affecting tryptophan 666 resulted in escape from neutralization by an anti-gp41 human monoclonal antibody, 2F5. These results contribute to an understanding of the functional regions of the HIV-1 gp41 ectodomain.
 ...
PMID:Effects of amino acid changes in the extracellular domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp41 envelope glycoprotein. 847 72

The binding of HIV-1 Gag and Gag-related proteins to model membranes was examined using three experimental systems: (i) large unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (LUVs) and recombinant Gag purified from Escherichia coli; (ii) LUVs added to a mammalian cell extract in which Gag proteins were expressed by a coupled transcription/translation system; and (iii) inside-out plasma membrane vesicles purified from human red blood cells (RBC) and recombinant, purified Gag from E. coli. Several novel aspects of HIV-1 Gag membrane interactions were observed: (i) Gag proteins bound with high affinity to both model membranes with a negatively charged surface and to RBC membranes. (ii) Binding of the Gag precursor and mature Gag proteins exhibited different sensitivities to ionic strength indicating that the precursor directed membrane binding through interactions that were qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from those of any of its individual domains. Studies using energy transfer between tryptophan residues in the proteins and anthroyloxy-containing probes inserted in the LUVs indicated that the orientation of the precursor and of the mature proteins on the membrane surface were distinct; (iii) Gag oligomers appear to have facilitated high-affinity binding under high salt conditions, suggesting that protein-protein interactions led to formation of stronger electrostatic or new hydrophobic membrane binding determinants. Since binding studies with model membranes permit quantitative analysis, these experimental approaches may permit identification of interactions that drive Gag assembly on the membrane.
 ...
PMID:Partitioning of HIV-1 Gag and Gag-related proteins to membranes. 867 24

The reverse transcriptase (RT) of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is composed of two subunits of 66 and 51 kDa in a 1 to 1 ratio. Because dimerization is a prerequisite for enzymatic activity, interference with the dimerization process could constitute an alternative antiviral strategy for RT inhibition. Here we describe an in vitro assay for the study of the dimerization state of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase based on chemical crosslinking of the subunits with dimethylsuberimidate. Crosslinking results in the formation of covalent bonds between the subunits, so that the crosslinked species can be resolved by denaturing gel electrophoresis. Crosslinked RT species with molecular weight greater than that of the dimeric form accumulate during a 1-15-min time course. Initial evidence suggests that those high molecular weight species represent trimers and tetramers and may be the result of intramolecular crosslinking of the subunits of a higher-order RT oligomer. A peptide that corresponds to part of the tryptophan repeat motif in the connection domain of HIV-1 RT inhibits crosslink formation as well as enzymatic activity. The crosslinking assay thus allows the investigation of the effect of inhibitors on the dimerization of HIV-1 RT.
 ...
PMID:Chemical crosslinking of the subunits of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. 874 6

A simple, rapid, and highly efficient method for intramolecular disulfide formation in tryptophan-containing peptides using hydrogen peroxide was elaborated. Solid phase synthesis of the peptide fragment corresponding to 601-617 sequence of transmembrane gp41 glycoprotein of HIV-1 was performed by Fmoc-technique. Coupling of Fmoc-Asn-OH by DCC-HOBt method was shown to be accompanied by a side reaction of dehydration of asparagine amide function with the formation of side product (22%) containing 3-cyanoalanine residue. This side reaction was not observed, when Fmoc-Asn-OH was coupled in the form of its p-nitrophenyl ester and with HOBt as a catalyst.
 ...
PMID:[Hydrogen peroxide for disulfide bridge formation in the synthesis of peptides with the sequence of the immunodominant epitope of HIV gp41 glycoprotein]. 876 65


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>