Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0021051 (immunodeficiency)
 71,517 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A complete chemical synthesis and assembly of genes for the production of human immunodeficiency virus type-I protease (HIV-PR) and its precursors are described. The T7 expression system was used to produce high levels of active HIV-PR and its precursors in Escherichia coli inclusion bodies. The gene encoding the open reading frames of HIV-PR was expressed in E. coli as a 10-kDa protein, while the genes encoding HIV-PR precursors were expressed as larger proteins, which were partially processed in E. coli to the 10-kDa form. These processing events are autoproteolytic, since a single-base mutation, changing the active-site aspartic acid to glycine, completely abolished the conversion. HIV-PR can be released with 8 M urea from washed cellular inclusion bodies, resulting in a preparation with few bacterial host proteins. After refolding, this preparation contains no nonspecific protease or peptidase activities. The recombinant HIV-PR isolated from inclusion bodies cleaves HIV-PR substrates specifically with a specific activity comparable to column-purified HIV-PR.
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PMID:High-level synthesis of recombinant HIV-1 protease and the recovery of active enzyme from inclusion bodies. 215 28

The pepsin-like aspartyl proteases consist of a single polypeptide chain with topologically similar amino- and carboxyl-terminal domains, each of which contributes 1 aspartic acid residue to the active site. This structure has been proposed to have evolved by gene duplication and fusion from a dimeric enzyme composed of two identical polypeptide chains, such as the aspartyl protease (PRT) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). To determine if a single polypeptide form of the HIV-1 protease would be enzymatically active, two protease coding regions were linked to form a dimeric gene (pFGGP). Expression of this gene in Escherichia coli yielded a protein with the expected molecular mass of 22 kDa. The in vitro kinetic parameters of PRT and FGGP (where FGGP is the single polypeptide form of the HIV-1 protease with 2 glycine residues connecting the two subunits) for three peptide substrates are similar. Construction and analysis of a CheY-GAG-FGGP fusion protein demonstrated that FGGP is capable of precursor processing in vivo. Mutation of one or both of the active site aspartates to either asparagine or glutamate rendered the enzyme inactive, demonstrating that both active site aspartate residues are required for enzymatic activity.
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PMID:Characterization of an active single polypeptide form of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease. 221 28

Retroviral proteins are synthesized as polyprotein precursors that undergo proteolytic cleavages to yield the mature viral proteins. The role of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease in the viral replication cycle was examined by use of a site-directed mutation in the protease gene. The HIV protease gene product was expressed in Escherichia coli and observed to cleave HIV gag p55 to gag p24 and gag p17 in vitro. Substitution of aspartic acid residue 25 (Asp-25) of this protein with an asparagine residue did not affect the expression of the protein, but it eliminated detectable in vitro proteolytic activity against HIV gag p55. A mutant HIV provirus was constructed that contained the Asn-25 mutation within the protease gene. SW480 human colon carcinoma cells transfected with the Asn-25 mutant proviral DNA produced virions that contained gag p55 but not gag p24, whereas virions from cells transfected with the wild-type DNA contained both gag p55 and gag p24. The mutant virions were not able to infect MT-4 lymphoid cells. In contrast, these cells were highly sensitive to infection by the wild-type virions. These results demonstrate that the HIV protease is an essential viral enzyme and, consequently, an attractive target for anti-HIV drugs.
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PMID:Active human immunodeficiency virus protease is required for viral infectivity. 329 Sep 1

Infectious retrovirus particles are derived from structural polyproteins which are cleaved by the viral proteinase (PR) during virion morphogenesis. Besides cleaving viral polyproteins, which is essential for infectivity, PR of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) also cleaves cellular proteins and PR expression causes a pronounced cytotoxic effect. Retroviral PRs are aspartic proteases and contain two copies of the triplet Asp-Thr-Gly in the active center with the threonine adjacent to the catalytic aspartic acid presumed to have an important structural role. We have changed this threonine in HIV type 1 PR to a serine. The purified mutant enzyme had an approximately 5- to 10-fold lower activity against HIV type 1 polyprotein and peptide substrates compared with the wild-type enzyme. It did not induce toxicity on bacterial expression and yielded significantly reduced cleavage of cytoskeletal proteins in vitro. Cleavage of vimentin in mutant-infected T-cell lines was also markedly reduced. Mutant virus did, however, elicit productive infection of several T-cell lines and of primary human lymphocytes with no significant difference in polyprotein cleavage and with similar infection kinetics and titer compared with wild-type virus. The discrepancy between reduced processing in vitro and normal virion maturation can be explained by the observation that reduced activity was due to an increase in Km which may not be relevant at the high substrate concentration in the virus particle. This mutation enables us therefore to dissociate the essential function of PR in viral maturation from its cytotoxic effect.
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PMID:An active-site mutation in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteinase (PR) causes reduced PR activity and loss of PR-mediated cytotoxicity without apparent effect on virus maturation and infectivity. 747 39

Molecular dynamics simulations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 protease with a model substrate were used to test if there is a stable energy minimum for a proton that is equidistant from the four delta oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids. The crystal structure of HIV-1 protease with a peptidic inhibitor was modified to model the peptide substrate Ser-Gln-Asn-Tyr-Pro-Ile-Val-Gln for the starting geometry. A proton was positioned between the two closet oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids, and close to the carbonyl oxygen of the scissile bond in the substrate. All crystallographic water molecules were included. Two molecular dynamics simulations were run: 30 ps with united-atom potentials and 40 ps using the more accurate all-atom potentials. The molecular dynamics used a new algorithm that increased the speed and allowed the elimination of a cut-off for non-bonded interactions and the inclusion of an 8 A shell of water molecules in the calculations. The overall structure of the protease dimer, including the catalytic aspartic acids, was stable during the course of the molecular dynamics simulations. The substrate and a water molecule, that is an important component of the binding site, were stable during the simulation using all-atom potentials, but more mobile when united-atom potentials were used. A Poincare map representation showed that the positions of the proton and its coordinating oxygen atoms were stable for 93% of both simulations, although many of the buried and poorly accessible water molecules exchanged with solvent. The proton has a stable minimum energy position and maintains coordination with all four delta oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids and the carbonyl oxygen of the scissile bond of the substrate. Therefore, a loosely bound hydrogen ion at this position will not be rapidly exchanged with solvent, and will rebond to either a catalytic aspartic acid or possibly the substrate. The implications for the reaction mechanism are discussed.
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PMID:Molecular dynamics simulations of HIV-1 protease with peptide substrate. 770 Aug 67

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) was adapted to replicate efficiently in cells expressing an altered form of the CD4 viral receptor. The mutant CD4 (46 K/D) contained a single amino acid change (lysine 46 to aspartic acid) in the CDR2 loop of domain 1, which results in a 15-fold reduction in affinity for the viral gp120 glycoprotein. The ability of the adapted virus to replicate in CD4 46 K/D-expressing cells was independently enhanced by single amino acid changes in the V2 variable loop, the V3 variable loop, and the fourth conserved (C4) region of the gp120 glycoprotein. Combinations of these amino acids in the same envelope glycoprotein resulted in additive enhancement of virus replication in cells expressing the CD4 46 K/D molecule. In cells expressing the wild-type CD4 glycoproteins, the same V2 and V3 residue changes also increased the efficiency of replication of a virus exhibiting decreased receptor-binding ability due to an amino acid change (aspartic acid 368 to glutamic acid) in the gp120 glycoprotein. In neither instance did the adaptive changes restore the binding ability of the monomeric gp120 glycoprotein or the oligomeric envelope glycoprotein complex for the mutant or wild-type CD4 glycoproteins, respectively. Thus, particular conformations of the gp120 V2 and V3 variable loops and of the C4 region allow postreceptor binding events in the membrane fusion process to occur in the context of less than optimal receptor binding. These results suggest that the fusion-related functions of the V2, V3, and C4 regions of gp120 are modulated by CD4 binding.
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PMID:Adaptation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 to cells expressing a binding-deficient CD4 mutant (lysine 46 to aspartic acid). 770 2

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) protease is catalytically active as a dimer of identical subunits that associate through noncovalent interactions. To investigate the forces stabilizing HIV-1 protease in its active form, we have studied the effects of pH and salts on structure and function of the enzyme. Enzymatic activity was measured by following the hydrolysis of a fluorogenic substrate. Dissociation of the dimer into its subunits was monitored by gel filtration, while conformational changes in the enzyme were probed by measurements of intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence. Mg2+ ions were capable of dissociating the dimeric enzyme with a concomitant red shift and increase in quantum yield of the tryptophan fluorescence, indicating increased accessibility of tryptophan to the aqueous environment. These structural changes also were associated with a loss of catalytic activity which was insensitive to substrate concentration, consistent with noncompetitive inhibition. Both structural and functional changes could be attributed to binding of Mg2+ ions to a site with an apparent dissociation constant of approximately 2 M. In contrast, increasing concentrations of Na ions up to 5 M were without effect. Increasing pH had similar effects on HIV-1 protease as increasing Mg2+ ions concentration, with concomitant dissociation into subunits, increase in quantum yield and red shift in tryptophan fluorescence, and loss in catalytic activity. The apparent pKa for these structural and functional transitions was 6.95 +/- 0.08. This value is consistent with that of an aspartic acid residue with an anomalously high pKa, which has been implicated in the catalytic activity of HIV-1 protease.
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PMID:Effect of pH and nonphysiological salt concentrations on human immunodeficiency virus-1 protease dimerization. 784 Sep 36

Substitution of glycine with glutamic acid at position 48 of the human immunodeficiency virus protease resulted in an enzyme with reduced activity on one of the protease processing sites in the viral Pol polyprotein precursor. Cleavage at this site was restored by a second-site substitution in the substrate replacing an aspartic acid with either glycine or asparagine. These results suggest that the glutamic acid side chain in the mutant protease has an unfavorable charge-charge interaction with this position in the substrate. Cleavage of a processing site in the viral Gag polyprotein precursor with the mutant enzyme was enhanced, and this enhancement was dependent on the presence of an arginine residue in the substrate, again suggesting a charge-charge interaction. The potential for such interactions was confirmed using molecular modeling. The effect of the position 48 substitution was attributed to a 10-fold increase in Km for the processing site in Pol. These results indicate that the addition of a side chain at position 48 can alter the specificity of the HIV-1 protease to substrate in a sequence specific manner and that compensatory changes can be made in the substrate.
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PMID:A side chain at position 48 of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 protease flap provides an additional specificity determinant. 788 51

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 circulates in vivo as a mixture of heterologous populations (quasispecies). We previously analyzed the quasispecies of the third hypervariable region (V3) in the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120 in an infected individual and found that the species with a basic amino acid substitution (lysine for aspartic acid) at a particular position evolved and became a distinct population within a short period, followed by progression to the typical immunodeficiency stage (S. Oka et al., AIDS Res. Hum. Retroviruses 10:271-277, 1994). In the present study, we examined the biological significance of this amino acid substitution by constructing recombinant viruses with specific point mutations and comparing their replication capabilities in different cell types. The results demonstrated that the single basic amino acid substitution was sufficient to render a virus fully capable of replicating in human T-cell lines under certain conditions. With an acidic amino acid at the position, the virus grew much less fast or did not grow at all in the T-cell lines. Viral neutralization assay and peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays further showed that this amino acid substitution resulted in different recognition by several of the serum specimens from human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected individuals and thus could alter the antigenic structure. An additional finding worthy of note was that at the terminal stage, the proviral sequences of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the viral isolates from them were without exception of the late type with the basic amino acid substitution, whereas the early sequence without the substitution was retained as a major subset in the spleen. These results support the notion that basic amino acid substitutions in V3 are a strong predictor of virus tropism and may be relevant to disease progression.
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PMID:A naturally occurring single basic amino acid substitution in the V3 region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 env protein alters the cellular host range and antigenic structure of the virus. 796 58

A previous genetic analysis of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase protein failed to identify single amino acid substitutions that only block the integration of viral DNA (C.-G. Shin, B. Taddeo, W.A. Haseltine, and C.M. Farnet, J. Virol. 68:1633-1642, 1994). Additional substitutions of amino acids that are highly conserved among retroviral integrases were constructed in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and analyzed for their effects on viral protein synthesis and processing, virion morphology, and viral DNA synthesis and integration in an attempt to identify mutants with a specific defect in integration. Four single amino acid substitutions resulted in replication defective viruses. Conservative, single amino acid substitutions of the two invariant aspartic acid residues found in all retroviral integrases prevented the integration of viral DNA and had no detectable effect on the other stages in the viral replication cycle, indicating that these mutants exhibited a specific defect in integration. Mutations at two positions, S-81 and P-109, blocked the integration of viral DNA but also resulted in the production of viral particles that exhibited reduced reverse transcriptase activity, suggesting additional defects in viral replication. Substitution of the highly conserved amino acid T66 had no effect on viral replication in a CD4+ human T-cell line. This analysis extends the range of possible phenotypes that may be produced by single amino acid substitutions in conserved residues of the integrase protein.
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PMID:Integrase mutants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 with a specific defect in integration. 796 34


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