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Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The 5' region of HIV-1 RNA contains functional elements involved in key steps of the retroviral cycle, such as genomic RNA transcription, splicing, translation, dimerization or initiation of reverse transcription. In the present work, we investigated the conformation of the first 500 nucleotides covering the RNA leader and the 5' gag coding sequences of HIV-MAL, using chemical probing. We provide detailed information on almost each nucleotide at one of their Watson-Crick positions and on position N-7 of purines. Experiments were conducted on two in vitro transcribed RNA fragments (1 to 707 and 1 to 311). A secondary structure model was derived by combining the experimental data, computer predictions and sequence comparison. Under conditions favoring dimerization (high salt concentration), HIV-1 RNA folds into independent structural domains that can be related to defined functional regions. The first domain corresponds to TAR forming a stable stem-loop. Intrinsic structural features are found to stabilize the TAR hairpin loop. The second domain (nucleotides 56 to 299) contains the PBS sequence, which is located in a stable subdomain constrained by a four stem junction (nucleotides 139 to 218). Although the MAL isolate has an insertion near the PBS, probably resulting from the duplication of a 23-nucleotide sequence, the structural organization of this subdomain is conserved in all other HIV-1 isolates. The third domain (nucleotides 300 to 404) contains the splice donor site, packaging and dimerization elements and the AUG initiation codon of gag. A major result is the structural versatility of this region. Two mutually exclusive structures, both equally in agreement with probing data, could modulate the different functions involving this domain. The reduced accessibility of the gag translational initiation site possibly accounts for the low efficiency of the in vitro translation of the dimer. Finally, the 5' gag coding sequences form a metastable domain.
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PMID:Functional sites in the 5' region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA form defined structural domains. 842 53

The nef genes, derived from two different human immunodeficiency-virus-type-1 (HIV-1) strains, were expressed in procaryotic cells (Escherichia coli) and in eucaryotic cells (insect cells infected with nef-containing baculovirus). The oligomerization of recombinant Nef protein was studied by NMR spectroscopy and immunoblotting under various experimental conditions. 1H-NMR spectroscopy shows that native folded protein has the tendency to polymerize under low-salt conditions. These oligomers become covalently linked by disulfide bonds after decreasing the reduction potential, a process which is fully reversible. Cross-linking studies with bis(sulfo-succinimidyl)suberate and alkylation with iodoacetic acid under non-reducing and reducing conditions document for the first time that Nef can also form homomeric structures including monomers, dimers, trimers and tetramers in cell lysates and intact cells. We found disulfide-linked as well as non-covalently associated oligomers. Since the Nef molecules are not exclusively found in the cytoplasm of HIV infected cells and since the reduced glutathione concentration in lymphocytes of virus infected persons is known to be unusually low, it might be possible that these Nef oligomers have a biological function in vivo as well.
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PMID:Oligomerization of the Nef protein from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. 851 95

An alternative synthesis of 7-chloro-N-methyl-5-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-amine, the compound that inhibits gene expression by HIV-1 at the level of transcriptional transactivation by Tat, has been developed. The process is based on ring expansion of 6-chloro-2-chloromethyl-4-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)quinazoline 3-oxide which leads to the corresponding benzodiazepine Ro24-7429. Quinazoline 3-oxide formation in the presence of boron trifluoride gives a tetracyclic system containing a 2,2-difluoro-1,3,6,2-oxadiazaborine ring that survives ring expansion to 13-chloro-5,5-difluoro-9-(methylamino)-5H-pyrrolo[1',2':3,4]- 1,3,6,2-oxadiazabora[6,5-d]-8H-1,4-benzodiazepin-7-ium hydroxide inner salt. This unusual benzodiazepine does not significantly inhibit Tat-mediated gene expression by HIV-1.
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PMID:An alternate synthesis of the Tat-antagonist 7-chloro-N-methyl-5-(1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-amine. 858 22

Humic acids are natural constituents of soil and ground water and mainly consist of mixtures of polycyclic phenolic compounds. A similar complex of compounds with a mean size of about 1000 Da, designated HS-1500, was synthesized by oxidation of hydroquinone. HS-1500 inhibited HIV-1 infection of MT-2 cells with an IC50 of 50-300 ng/ml and showed a mean cell toxicity of about 600 micrograms/ml. Inhibition of HIV-induced syncytium formation was observed at 10-50 micrograms/ml. Treatment of free and cell-attached HIV with HS-1500 irreversibly reduced its infectivity, whereas the susceptibility of target cells for the virus was not impaired by treatment prior to infection. The HIV envelope protein gp120SU bound to sepharose-coupled HS-1500 and could be eluted by high salt and detergent. HS-1500 interfered with the CD4-induced proteolytic cleavage of the V3 loop of virion gp120SU. Furthermore, binding of V3 loop-specific antibodies was irreversibly inhibited, whereas binding of soluble CD4 to gp120SU on virus and infected cells was not affected. In conclusion, our data suggest, that the synthetic humic acid analogue inhibits the infectivity of HIV particles by interference with a V3 loop-mediated step of virus entry.
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PMID:Inhibition of HIV-1 in cell culture by synthetic humate analogues derived from hydroquinone: mechanism of inhibition. 861 Apr 66

The three-dimensional structure of the amino-terminal core domain (residues 1 through 151) of the human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1) capsid protein has been solved by multidimensional heteronuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The structure is unlike those of previously characterized viral coat proteins and is composed of seven alpha helices, two beta hairpins, and an exposed partially ordered loop. The domain is shaped like an arrowhead, with the beta hairpins and loop exposed at the trailing edge and the carboxyl-terminal helix projecting from the tip. The proline residue Pro1 forms a salt bridge with a conserved, buried aspartate residue (Asp51), which suggests that the amino terminus of the protein rearranges upon proteolytic maturation. The binding site for cyclophilin A, a cellular rotamase that is packaged into the HIV-1 virion, is located on the exposed loop and encompasses the essential proline residue Pro90. In the free monomeric domain, Pro90 adopts kinetically trapped cis and trans conformations, raising the possibility that cyclophilin A catalyzes interconversion of the cis- and trans-Pro90 loop structures.
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PMID:Structure of the amino-terminal core domain of the HIV-1 capsid protein. 866 5

The construction, expression, and purification of an active Fv fragment of the 0.5beta monoclonal human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) neutralizing antibody is reported. The interaction between the Fv fragment and the RP135 peptide derived from the V3 loop of gp120 from HIV-1IIIB was studied by varying the salt concentration and by mutating arginine residues in the peptide. The mutations R4A, R8A and R11A (which correspond to residues 311, 315, and 318 in gp120 of HIV-1IIIB) reduce the binding free energy by 0.22 (+/- 0. 20), 4.32 (+/- 0.16), and 1.58 (+/- 0.17) kcal mol-1, respectively. The salt-dependent components of their contributions to binding are 0.02 (+/- 0.22), -0.55 (+/- 0.18), and -0.97 (+/- 0.19) kcal mol-1, respectively. The magnitudes of the mutational effects and the extent of shielding by 1 M NaCl suggest that Arg-8 is involved in a buried salt bridge in the peptide-Fv fragment complex, whereas Arg-11 is involved in a more solvent-exposed electrostatic interaction.
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PMID:Contribution of arginine residues in the RP135 peptide derived from the V3 loop of gp120 to its interaction with the Fv fragment of the 0.5beta HIV-1 neutralizing antibody. 866 80

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.
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PMID:Partitioning of HIV-1 Gag and Gag-related proteins to membranes. 867 24

A biologically contained cytoprotection assay was developed to screen inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus without the need for high level containment or practices. The virus used has multiple point mutations that have destroyed its ability to produce both Rev and Tat, proteins essential for virus replication in vitro. The original cell line employed (CEM-SSTART) contains a genetic construct that allows for the continuous expression of both Rev and Tat, and a subclone (1A2) was developed that provides for maximum acute cytopathic effect. The National Cancer Institute's AIDS drug screening assay was used to test known drugs with both HIVIIIB virus in the T4 lymphocytic cell line CEM-SS and mutant virus in the 1A2 subclone. This cell-based assay uses the tetrazolium salt, XTT, as an indicator of cellular metabolism after the cells have been infected with virus. The results of extensive testing have shown that the assay using mutant virus is comparable to the current NCI AIDS drug screen. After 42 days in 1A2 or CEM-SS cell culture, the virus or the integrated genome did not revert to wild-type, and the virus produced in 1A2 cells was unable to replicate in PBMCs. Mutant viral stocks were devoid of wild-type virus as determined by a PCR assay that would have found 60-600 copies of mutant RNA. These materials, which are now available to the scientific community (NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program), should be useful tools to screen and test compounds for potential inhibition of HIV in laboratories not equipped to maintain and use wild-type infectious virus.
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PMID:Assessment of a cytoprotection assay for the discovery and evaluation of anti-human immunodeficiency virus compounds utilizing a genetically-impaired virus. 878 55

AIDS encephalopathy is an insidious complication of human immunodeficiency virus infection which is difficult to treat because of the poor uptake of many potentially useful antiretroviral drugs through the blood-brain barrier. A chemical delivery system (CDS) for zidovudine (AZT) based on redox trapping within the brain has been prepared and tested in several animal models to circumvent this limitation. The behavior of the AZT-CDS in the dog was considered. Parenteral administration of AZT resulted in rapid systemic elimination and poor uptake by the central nervous system. Ratios of the area under the concentration-time curve of AZT for cerebrospinal fluid to that for blood were 0.32, and ratios of the area under the concentration-time curve of AZT for brain to that for blood were approximately 0.25. Administration of an aqueous formulation of the AZT-CDS resulted in rapid tissue uptake and conversion of the CDS to the corresponding quaternary salt with the subsequent production of AZT. Delivered in this way, the levels of AZT in brain were 1.75- to 3.3-fold higher than those associated with conventional AZT administration. In addition, the levels of AZT in blood were 46% lower than those associated with AZT administration. The higher concentrations in brain and lower concentration in blood combined to significantly increase the ratio of the concentration of AZT in the brain to that in blood after AZT-CDS administration compared to that after AZT dosing.
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PMID:Evaluation of a brain-targeting zidovudine chemical delivery system in dogs. 898 Jul 67

We present data indicating that a host protein is important for function of HIV-1 preintegration complexes (PICs) in vitro. PICs partially purified from infected cells were subjected to gel filtration in 600 mM KCl, which removed a factor required for integration without fully disrupting PICs. Addition of an extract from uninfected cells restored activity. Fractionation of the complementing activity yielded HMG I(Y), a nonhistone chromosomal protein important for transcriptional control and chromosomal architecture. Complementing activity could be isolated from PICs, and activity could be depleted from such fractions with an antibody against HMG I(Y). Recombinant HMG I(Y) also complemented salt-stripped complexes. The finding that a host protein is required for integration by HIV PICs parallels findings in several well-studied transposition and site-specific recombination systems.
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PMID:HIV-1 cDNA integration: requirement of HMG I(Y) protein for function of preintegration complexes in vitro. 903 39


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