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

Periodic infusion of autologous HIV-antigen presenting cells (APCs), that stimulate the cytotoxic (CTL) response, while being incapable of producing virus, should lower viral burden and boost CD4+ count in HIV-seropositive individuals. Viral burden reasserts itself after antiviral therapy ceases or is interrupted for long. Therapy, therefore, would have to continue for life. These are predictions from a computer model of HIV-immune kinetics. The model equations describe the interactive kinetics of viral burden, CD4+ cell decline, neutralization of free virus by antibodies, infection of cells, and killing of infected cells by CTL. The computed trajectories of the kinetic equations reproduce the typical course of an HIV infection and the model yields several predictions that are not intuitively obvious, among them: (a) Persistence of HIV infection (failure of the immune system to clear infection) is an intrinsic property of the kinetics of the HIV-immune interaction. (b) The chronic state of infection is inherently stable, which means that the infection rebounds to the determined steady state, whenever antiviral therapy stops. (c) CTL is chronically activated, and the level correlates inversely with the avidity of neutralizing antibodies. (d) APCs have to be infused at a rate such as to boost and maintain the CTL response above the chronic level. Other therapies include CTL stimulation, via the macrophage route, by erythrocytes, into which MHC binding HIV-CTL epitope polypeptide fragments have been inserted; passive immunization, virion-trapping by CD4 analogs or CD4 expressing erythrocytes; and combination therapies with AZT, IL-2. These are also analyzed. Concerning HIV etiology, the model assumes that cells other than CD4+ cells (such as macrophages/monocytes) become infected, and contribute to the viral burden, and that infectible cells remain available even as CD4+ cells become exhausted. The model further assumes that CD4+ cells decline not only through direct killing by HIV and CTL, but by dysregulation and excess apoptosis caused by the presence of virus. The model predicts that persistence of HIV infection does not depend upon latently infected cells or escape mutants, as has been suggested.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Mechanism of HIV persistence: implications for vaccines and therapy. 762 23

HIV-1 proteinase (HIV PR) is a dimeric enzyme composed of two identical polypeptide chains that associate with twofold symmetry. We have determined to 1.8 A the crystal structure of a covalently tethered dimer of HIV PR. The tethered dimer:inhibitor complex is identical in nearly every respect to the complex of the same inhibitor with the wild type dimeric molecule, except for the linker region. Our results suggest that the tethered dimer may be a useful surrogate enzyme for studying the effects of single site mutations on substrate and inhibitor binding as well as on enzyme asymmetry, and for simulating independent mutational drift of the two domains which has been proposed to have led to the evolution of modern day, single-chain aspartic proteinases.
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PMID:Crystal structure of a tethered dimer of HIV-1 proteinase complexed with an inhibitor. 766 84

The causes of differences in the stability of CD4 receptor and diphtherial toxin based recombinant receptorotoxins synthesized in E.coli and differing by their primary structure were under study. Insertion of a CD4 receptor fragment, responsible for HIV binding, on the N terminus of hybrid protein was found to lead to a drastic reduction of the stability of the hybrid polypeptide in E.coli and to impossibility of obtaining full-size protein product. In vitro experiments on a model of human T lymphocyte culture demonstrated that recombinant receptorotoxin stably expressed in E.coli inhibited the cytopathic effect of type 1 HIV and the effect of syncytium formation induced by the virus.
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PMID:[Stability and virus-inhibiting effect of recombinant receptor toxins based on the human CD4 receptor and diphtheria toxin]. 767 68

We have prepared a plasmid, pRC-RT, for expression of HXB2 HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) in Escherichia coli (Becerra et al., Biochemistry 30, 11707-11719, 1991). Here we describe the optimization of RT overexpression and its purification. In pRC-RT, the precise RT coding region of HXB2 proviral DNA is flanked by start and stop codons, and expression is driven by the phage lambda pL promoter in a temperature-inducible system. The 64,484-Da RT polypeptide (termed p66) is expressed as approximately 10% of total cell protein after 2 h of induction, and the RT is readily solubilized and purified free of DNA Pol I and to near homogeneity as a homodimer of p66 or as a heterodimer of p66 and p51, resembling the natural enzyme. After achieving appropriate expression of the full-length p66 RT, we next created vectors to express multiple individual segments of the p66 polypeptide. These segments are: a 51,000-Da peptide, representing C-terminal truncation of p66, and several peptides representing consecutive N-terminal, central, and C-terminal segments of p66. The latter peptide, corresponding to the RNase H domain of RT, has been purified in large quantities and is currently under study for solution of its structure by NMR. This peptide is devoid of enzyme activity and of substrate-binding capacity, but exists in solution as a folded globular protein with structure resembling that of E. coli ribonuclease H and that of a similar HIV-1 RT RNase H domain peptide examined by X-ray crystallography (Becerra et al., FEBS Lett. 270, 67-80, 1990). Various other RT peptides described here should prove to be similarly useful for structural studies, as well as other approaches.
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PMID:Expression of polypeptides of human immunodeficiency virus-1 reverse transcriptase in Escherichia coli. 768 63

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.
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PMID:Fluorimetric analysis of recombinant p15 HIV-1 ribonuclease H. 768 4

Antibody binding to the p 66 and p 15 RNase H regions of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase was compared using a polyclonal rabbit immune serum raised against a synthetic peptide from the RNase H region of reverse transcriptase (aa 511-527) and six monoclonal antibodies binding to discontinuous epitopes in the RNase H region of p 66. The antigens used in Western blot analysis included recombinantly expressed homodimeric p 66 digested with the HIV-1 protease for generation of the p 51 and p 15 polypeptides and two different length RNase H domains expressed as Trp E fusion proteins (aa 410-560 and aa 441-560). The polyclonal rabbit antibody binding to a continuous epitope recognized both the Trp E-fusion proteins and also the polypeptides p 66 and p 15 generated by processing of homodimeric p 66 with the viral protease. Two additional cleavage products with estimated molecular weights of 9 and 11 kDa were also detected. The anti-RNase H MAbs binding to discontinuous epitopes recognized only the RNase H domain of the p 66 polypeptide and the Trp E-RNase H fusion protein when this was expressed together with the C-terminal part of the polymerase domain. The results indicate conformational differences between the RNase H domain of the p 66 subunit and the RNase H p 15 polypeptide.
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PMID:Characterization of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with antibodies indicates conformational differences between the RNAse H domains of p 66 and p 15. 768 7

Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in North America and Europe occurs most commonly through the rectal mucosa during homosexual intercourse. The simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) macaque model has been used to investigate rectal immunization. The vaccine used was a recombinant SIV gag p27 expressed as hybrid Ty virus-like particles (Ty-VLP). Sequential ororectal (OR) mucosal immunization was compared with i.m. immunization. Whereas both routes of immunization induced serum IgA and IgG p27 antibodies, only OR immunization induced rectal secretory IgA antibodies. Specific CD4+ T-cell proliferative responses to stimulation with p27 were found after i.m. immunization only in the blood and spleen, but after OR immunization they were found in the internal iliac and inferior mesenteric lymph nodes in addition to the blood and spleen. T-cell epitope mapping of the proliferative responses of short-term cell lines (STCLs) grown from peripheral blood or lymphoid cells revealed a major epitope within the polypeptide 121-150 after either route of immunization. Two minor T-cell epitopes were found within peptide 41-80 in STCLs from splenic and circulating cells. B-cell epitope mapping of serum or biliary IgA and IgG antibodies revealed two overlapping or adjacent immunodominant epitopes to the T-cell epitopes within the polypeptides 121-170 and 51-90. The results suggest that rectal augmented by oral immunization with a recombinant particulate antigen in nonhuman primates elicits secretory IgA and to a lesser extent IgG responses in the draining lymph nodes and the rectal mucosa, whereas systemic immunization targets predominantly splenic and circulating T- and B-cell responses. These findings may have important implications in the strategy of designing vaccines in prevention of homosexual transmission of HIV infection.
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PMID:T- and B-cell functions and epitope expression in nonhuman primates immunized with simian immunodeficiency virus antigen by the rectal route. 769 Sep 67

The reverse transcriptase of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) shows sequence similarity with the reverse transcriptases of other lentiviruses, particularly with those of human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2). We have constructed a plasmid that when introduced into E. coli induces the synthesis of substantial quantities of the nearly authentic EIAV reverse transcriptase. The viral and bacterially expressed reverse transcriptases are similar in their molecular weights. The bacterial expression clone was used to generate deletion mutants of the protein. Mutations in both amino and carboxyl terminal regions of the polypeptide strongly affect the DNA polymerase activity of the enzyme. Thus, EIAV reverse transcriptase resembles the reverse transcriptases of HIV-1 and HIV-2 and can serve as a suitable enzyme for studying the structure-function relationship in lentiviral reverse transcriptase.
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PMID:Expression and mutational analysis of the reverse transcriptase of the lentivirus equine infectious anemia virus. 769 81

Anticodon nuclease is a bacterial restriction enzyme directed against tRNA(Lys). We report that anticodon nuclease also cleaves mammalian tRNA(Lys) molecules, with preference and site specificity shown towards the natural substrate. Expression of the anticodon nuclease core polypeptide PrrC in HeLa cells from a recombinant vaccinia virus elicited cleavage of intracellular tRNA(Lys),3. The data justify an inquiry into the possible application of anticodon nuclease as an inhibitor of tRNA(Lys),3-primed HIV replication. They also indicate that the anticodon region of tRNA(Lys) is a substrate recognition site and suggest that PrrC harbors the enzymatic activity.
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PMID:Cleavage of the HIV replication primer tRNALys,3 in human cells expressing bacterial anticodon nuclease. 778 79

The glycosylation pattern of the external envelope glycoprotein of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) was studied in dependence on host cells and virus isolates. Strains HIV-2ALT, HIV-2ROD and HIV-2D194, differing in their biological properties and in the amino acid sequences of their env genes, were propagated in MOLT4, HUT78 and U937 cells, in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages in the presence of [6-3H]glucosamine. Radiolabelled viral glycoproteins were isolated from the cell-free supernatants and digested with trypsin. Glycans were sequentially liberated by endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H and peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl) asparagine amidase F, and fractionated according to charge and size. Comparison of the oligosaccharide profiles revealed that the envelope glycoproteins of different virus isolates, propagated in the same host cells, yielded very similar glycan patterns, whereas cultivation of an isolate in different host cells resulted in markedly divergent oligosaccharide maps. Variations concerned the proportion of high-mannose-, hybrid- and complex-type substituents, as well as the state of charge and structural parameters of the complex-type species. As a characteristic feature, complex-type glycans of macrophage-derived viral glycoprotein were almost exclusively substituted by lactosamine repeats. Hence, glycosylation of the HIV-2 external envelope glycoprotein seems to be primarily governed by host cell-specific factors rather than by the amino acid sequence of the corresponding polypeptide backbone.
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PMID:Oligosaccharide profiles of HIV-2 external envelope glycoprotein: dependence on host cells and virus isolates. 782 9


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