Possible roles of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein in the specificity of proviral DNA synthesis and in its variability

Structure-Based Identification of HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Protein Inhibitors Active against Wild-Type and Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Strains

HIV/AIDS is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Current drugs that target the canonical steps of the HIV-1 life cycle are efficient in blocking viral replication but are unable to eradicate HIV-1 from infected patients. Moreover, drug resistance (DR) is often associated with the clinical use of these molecules, thus raising the need for novel drug candidates as well as novel putative drug targets. In this respect, pharmacological inhibition of the highly conserved and multifunctional nucleocapsid protein (NC) of HIV-1 is considered a promising alternative to current drugs, particularly to overcome DR. Here, using a multidisciplinary approach combining in silico screening, fluorescence-based molecular assays, and cellular antiviral assays, we identified nordihydroguaiaretic acid (6), as a novel natural product inhibitor of NC. By using NMR, mass spectrometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and molecular modeling, 6 was found to act through a dual mechanism of action never highlighted before for NC inhibitors (NCIs). First, the molecule recognizes and binds NC noncovalently, which results in the inhibition of the nucleic acid chaperone properties of NC. In a second step, chemical oxidation of 6 induces a potent chemical inactivation of the protein. Overall, 6 inhibits NC and the replication of wild-type and drug-resistant HIV-1 strains in the low micromolar range with moderate cytotoxicity that makes it a profitable tool compound as well as a good starting point for the development of pharmacologically relevant NCIs.

Analysis of HIV-1 intersubtype recombination breakpoints suggests region with high pairing probability may be a more fundamental factor than sequence similarity affecting HIV-1 recombination

Background

With increasing data on HIV-1, a more relevant molecular model describing mechanism details of HIV-1 genetic recombination usually requires upgrades. Currently an incomplete structural understanding of the copy choice mechanism along with several other issues in the field that lack elucidation led us to perform an analysis of the correlation between breakpoint distributions and (1) the probability of base pairing, and (2) intersubtype genetic similarity to further explore structural mechanisms.

Methods

Near full length sequences of URFs from Asia, Europe, and Africa (one sequence/patient), and representative sequences of worldwide CRFs were retrieved from the Los Alamos HIV database. Their recombination patterns were analyzed by jpHMM in detail. Then the relationships between breakpoint distributions and (1) the probability of base pairing, and (2) intersubtype genetic similarities were investigated.

Results

Pearson correlation test showed that all URF groups and the CRF group exhibit the same breakpoint distribution pattern. Additionally, the Wilcoxon two-sample test indicated a significant and inexplicable limitation of recombination in regions with high pairing probability. These regions have been found to be strongly conserved across distinct biological states (i.e., strong intersubtype similarity), and genetic similarity has been determined to be a very important factor promoting recombination. Thus, the results revealed an unexpected disagreement between intersubtype similarity and breakpoint distribution, which were further confirmed by genetic similarity analysis. Our analysis reveals a critical conflict between results from natural HIV-1 isolates and those from HIV-1-based assay vectors in which genetic similarity has been shown to be a very critical factor promoting recombination.

Conclusions

These results indicate the region with high-pairing probabilities may be a more fundamental factor affecting HIV-1 recombination than sequence similarity in natural HIV-1 infections. Our findings will be relevant in furthering the understanding of HIV-1 recombination mechanisms.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-016-0616-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase displays dramatically higher fidelity under physiological magnesium conditions in vitro

The fidelity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase (RT) has been a subject of intensive investigation. The mutation frequencies for the purified enzyme in vitro vary widely but are typically in the 10(-4) range (per nucleotide addition), making the enzyme severalfold less accurate than most polymerases, including other RTs. This has often been cited as a factor in HIV's accelerated generation of genetic diversity. However, cellular experiments suggest that HIV does not have significantly lower fidelity than other retroviruses and shows a mutation frequency in the 10(-5) range. In this report, we reconcile, at least in part, these discrepancies by showing that HIV RT fidelity in vitro is in the same range as cellular results from experiments conducted with physiological (for lymphocytes) concentrations of free Mg(2+) (~0.25 mM) and is comparable to Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) RT fidelity. The physiological conditions produced mutation rates that were 5 to 10 times lower than those obtained under typically employed in vitro conditions optimized for RT activity (5 to 10 mM Mg(2+)). These results were consistent in both commonly used lacZα complementation and steady-state fidelity assays. Interestingly, although HIV RT showed severalfold-lower fidelity under high-Mg(2+) (6 mM) conditions, MuLV RT fidelity was insensitive to Mg(2+). Overall, the results indicate that the fidelity of HIV replication in cells is compatible with findings of experiments carried out in vitro with purified HIV RT, providing more physiological conditions are used.

IMPORTANCE

Human immunodeficiency virus rapidly evolves through the generation and subsequent selection of mutants that can circumvent the immune response and escape drug therapy. This process is fueled, in part, by the presumably highly error-prone HIV polymerase reverse transcriptase (RT). Paradoxically, results of studies examining HIV replication in cells indicate an error frequency that is ~10 times lower than the rate for RT in the test tube, which invokes the possibility of factors that make RT more accurate in cells. This study brings the cellular and test tube results in closer agreement by showing that HIV RT is not more error prone than other RTs and, when assayed under physiological magnesium conditions, has a much lower error rate than in typical assays conducted using conditions optimized for enzyme activity.

Retrospective on the all-in-one retroviral nucleocapsid protein

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This retrospective reviews 30 years of research on the retroviral nucleocapsid protein (NC) focusing on HIV-1 NC.

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Originally considered as a non-specific nucleic-acid binding protein, NC has seminal functions in virus replication.

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Indeed NC turns out to be a all-in-one viral protein that chaperones viral DNA synthesis and integration, and virus formation.

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As a chaperone NC provides assistance to genetic recombination thus allowing the virus to escape the immune response and antiretroviral therapies against HIV-1.

This review aims at briefly presenting a retrospect on the retroviral nucleocapsid protein (NC), from an unspecific nucleic acid binding protein (NABP) to an all-in-one viral protein with multiple key functions in the early and late phases of the retrovirus replication cycle, notably reverse transcription of the genomic RNA and viral DNA integration into the host genome, and selection of the genomic RNA together with the initial steps of virus morphogenesis. In this context we will discuss the notion that NC protein has a flexible conformation and is thus a member of the growing family of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) where disorder may account, at least in part, for its function as a nucleic acid (NA) chaperone and possibly as a protein chaperone vis-à-vis the viral DNA polymerase during reverse transcription. Lastly, we will briefly review the development of new anti-retroviral/AIDS compounds targeting HIV-1 NC because it represents an ideal target due to its multiple roles in the early and late phases of virus replication and its high degree of conservation.

Variation of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 reverse transcriptase within the simian immunodeficiency virus genome of RT-SHIV

RT-SHIV is a chimera of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) containing the reverse transcriptase (RT)-encoding region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) within the backbone of SIV_mac239. It has been used in a non-human primate model for studies of non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTI) and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We and others have identified several mutations that arise in the "foreign" HIV-1 RT of RT-SHIV during in vivo replication. In this study we catalogued amino acid substitutions in the HIV-1 RT and in regions of the SIV backbone with which RT interacts that emerged 30 weeks post-infection from seven RT-SHIV-infected rhesus macaques. The virus set points varied from relatively high virus load, moderate virus load, to undetectable virus load. The G196R substitution in RT was detected from 6 of 7 animals at week 4 post-infection and remained in virus from 4 of 6 animals at week 30. Virus from four high virus load animals showed several common mutations within RT, including L74V or V75L, G196R, L214F, and K275R. The foreign RT from high virus load isolates exhibited as much variation as that of the highly variable envelope surface glycoprotein, and 10-fold higher than that of the native RT of SIV_mac239. Isolates from moderate virus load animals showed much less variation in the foreign RT than the high virus load isolates. No variation was found in SIV_mac239 genes known to interact with RT. Our results demonstrate substantial adaptation of the foreign HIV-1 RT in RT-SHIV-infected macaques, which most likely reflects selective pressure upon the foreign RT to attain optimal activity within the context of the chimeric RT-SHIV and the rhesus macaque host.

Role of the primer activation signal in tRNA annealing onto the HIV-1 genome studied by single-molecule FRET microscopy

HIV-1 reverse transcription is primed by a cellular tRNAlys3 molecule that binds to the primer binding site (PBS) in the genomic RNA. An additional interaction between the tRNA molecule and the primer activation signal (PAS) is thought to regulate the initiation of reverse transcription. The mechanism of tRNA annealing onto the HIV-1 genome was examined using ensemble and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) assays, in which fluorescent donor and acceptor molecules were covalently attached to an RNA template mimicking the PBS region. The role of the viral nucleocapsid (NC) protein in tRNA annealing was studied. Both heat annealing and NC-mediated annealing of tRNAlys3 were found to change the FRET efficiency, and thus the conformation of the HIV-1 RNA template. The results are consistent with a model for tRNA annealing that involves an interaction between the tRNAlys3 molecule and the PAS sequence in the HIV-1 genome. The NC protein may stimulate the interaction of the tRNA molecule with the PAS, thereby regulating the initiation of reverse transcription.

Zinc finger function of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein is required for removal of 5'-terminal genomic RNA fragments: a paradigm for RNA removal reactions in HIV-1 reverse transcription

During (-) strong-stop DNA [(-) SSDNA] synthesis, RNase H cleavage of genomic viral RNA generates small 5'-terminal RNA fragments (14-18 nt) that remain annealed to the DNA. Unless these fragments are removed, the minus-strand transfer reaction, required for (-) SSDNA elongation, cannot occur. Here, we describe the mechanism of 5'-terminal RNA removal and the roles of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein (NC) and RNase H cleavage in this process. Using an NC-dependent system that models minus-strand transfer, we show that the presence of short terminal fragments pre-annealed to (-) SSDNA has no impact on strand transfer, implying efficient fragment removal. Moreover, in reactions with an RNase H(-) reverse transcriptase mutant, NC alone is able to facilitate fragment removal, albeit less efficiently than in the presence of both RNase H activity and NC. Results obtained from novel electrophoretic gel mobility shift and Förster Resonance Energy Transfer assays, which each directly measure RNA fragment release from a duplex in the absence of DNA synthesis, demonstrate for the first time that the architectural integrity of NC's zinc finger (ZF) domains is absolutely required for this reaction. This suggests that NC's helix destabilizing activity (associated with the ZFs) facilitates strand exchange through the displacement of these short terminal RNAs by the longer 3' acceptor RNA, which forms a more stable duplex with (-) SSDNA. Taken together with previously published results, we conclude that NC-mediated fragment removal is linked mechanistically with selection of the correct primer for plus-strand DNA synthesis and tRNA removal step prior to plus-strand transfer. Thus, HIV-1 has evolved a single mechanism for these RNA removal reactions that are critical for successful reverse transcription.

Use of virtual screening for discovering antiretroviral compounds interacting with the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein

The HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein (NC) is considered as an emerging drug target for the therapy of AIDS. Several studies have highlighted the crucial role of NC within the viral replication cycle. However, although NC inhibition has provided in vitro and in vivo antiretroviral activity, drug-candidates which interfere with NC functions are still missing in the therapeutic arsenal against HIV. Based on previous studies, where the dynamic behavior of NC and its ligand binding properties have been investigated by means of computational methods, here we used a virtual screening protocol for discovering novel antiretroviral compounds which interact with NC. The antiretroviral activity of virtual hits was tested in vitro, whereas biophysical studies elucidated the direct interaction of most active compounds with NC(11-55), a peptide corresponding to the zinc finger domain of NC. Two novel antiretroviral small molecules capable of interacting with NC are presented here.

Characterization of the inhibition mechanism of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein chaperone activities by methylated oligoribonucleotides

Since currently available therapies against HIV/AIDS still show important drawbacks, the development of novel anti-HIV treatments is a key issue. We recently characterized methylated oligoribonucleotides (mONs) that extensively inhibit HIV-1 replication in primary T cells at nanomolar concentrations. The mONs were shown to target both HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and the nucleocapsid protein (NC), which is an essential partner of RT during viral DNA synthesis. To further understand the mechanism of such mONs, we studied by isothermal titration calorimetry and fluorescence-based techniques their NC binding properties and ability to inhibit the nucleic acid chaperone properties of NC. Notably, we investigated the ability of mONs to inhibit the NC-induced destabilization of the HIV-1 cTAR (complementary DNA sequence to TAR [transactivation response element]) stem-loop and the NC-promoted cTAR annealing to its complementary sequence, required at the early stage of HIV-1 viral DNA synthesis. Moreover, we compared the activity of the mONs to that of a number of modified and nonmodified oligonucleotides. Results show that the mONs inhibit NC by a competitive mechanism whereby the mONs tightly bind the NC peptide, mainly through nonelectrostatic interactions with the hydrophobic platform at the top of the NC zinc fingers. Taken together, these results favor the notion that the mONs impair the process of the RT-directed viral DNA synthesis by sequestering NC molecules, thus preventing the chaperoning of viral DNA synthesis by NC. These findings contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis for NC inhibition by mONs, which could be used for the rational design of antiretroviral compounds targeting HIV-1 NC protein.

Flexible nature and specific functions of the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein

One salient feature of reverse transcription in retroviruses, notably in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1, is that it requires the homologous nucleocapsid (NC) protein acting as a chaperoning partner of the genomic RNA template and the reverse transcriptase, from the initiation to the completion of viral DNA synthesis. This short review on the NC protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 aims at briefly presenting the flexible nature of NC protein, how it interacts with nucleic acids via its invariant zinc fingers and flanking basic residues, and the possible mechanisms that account for its multiple functions in the early steps of virus replication, notably in the obligatory strand transfer reactions during viral DNA synthesis by the reverse transcriptase enzyme.

Specific implications of the HIV-1 nucleocapsid zinc fingers in the annealing of the primer binding site complementary sequences during the obligatory plus strand transfer

Synthesis of the HIV-1 viral DNA by reverse transcriptase involves two obligatory strand transfer reactions. The second strand transfer corresponds to the annealing of the (−) and (+) DNA copies of the primer binding site (PBS) sequence which is chaperoned by the nucleocapsid protein (NCp7). NCp7 modifies the (+)/(−)PBS annealing mechanism by activating a loop–loop kissing pathway that is negligible without NCp7. To characterize in depth the dynamics of the loop in the NCp7/PBS nucleoprotein complexes, we investigated the time-resolved fluorescence parameters of a (−)PBS derivative containing the fluorescent nucleoside analogue 2-aminopurine at positions 6, 8 or 10. The NCp7-directed switch of (+)/(−)PBS annealing towards the loop pathway was associated to a drastic restriction of the local DNA dynamics, indicating that NCp7 can ‘freeze’ PBS conformations competent for annealing via the loops. Moreover, the modifications of the PBS loop structure and dynamics that govern the annealing reaction were found strictly dependent on the integrity of the zinc finger hydrophobic platform. Our data suggest that the two NCp7 zinc fingers are required to ensure the specificity and fidelity of the second strand transfer, further underlining the pivotal role played by NCp7 to control the faithful synthesis of viral HIV-1 DNA.

Identification of a methylated oligoribonucleotide as a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 reverse transcription complex

Upon HIV-1 infection of a target cell, the viral reverse transcriptase (RT) copies the genomic RNA to synthesize the viral DNA. The genomic RNA is within the incoming HIV-1 core where it is coated by molecules of nucleocapsid (NC) protein that chaperones the reverse transcription process. Indeed, the RT chaperoning properties of NC extend from the initiation of cDNA synthesis to completion of the viral DNA. New and effective drugs against HIV-1 continue to be required, which prompted us to search for compounds aimed at inhibiting NC protein. Here, we report that the NC chaperoning activity is extensively inhibited in vitro by small methylated oligoribonucleotides (mODN). These mODNs were delivered intracellularly using a cell-penetrating-peptide and found to impede HIV-1 replication in primary human cells at nanomolar concentrations. Extensive analysis showed that viral cDNA synthesis was severely impaired by mODNs. Partially resistant viruses with mutations in NC and RT emerged after months of passaging in cell culture. A HIV-1 molecular clone (NL4.3) bearing these mutations was found to replicate at high concentrations of mODN, albeit with a reduced fitness. Small, methylated ODNs such as mODN-11 appear to be a new type of highly potent inhibitor of HIV-1.

Requirements for efficient minus strand strong-stop DNA transfer in human immunodeficiency virus 1

After HIV-1 enters a human cell, its RNA genome is converted into double stranded DNA during the multistep process of reverse transcription. First (minus) strand DNA synthesis is initiated near the 5' end of the viral RNA, where only a short fragment of the genome is copied. In order to continue DNA synthesis the virus employs a complicated mechanism, which enables transferring of the growing minus strand DNA to a remote position at the genomic 3' end. This is called minus strand DNA transfer. The transfer enables regeneration of long terminal repeat sequences, which are crucial for viral genomic DNA integration into the host chromosome. Numerous factors have been identified that stimulate minus strand DNA transfer. In this review we focus on describing protein-RNA and RNA-RNA interactions, as well as RNA structural features, known to facilitate this step in reverse transcription.

Fundamental differences between the nucleic acid chaperone activities of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein and Gag or Gag-derived proteins: biological implications

The HIV-1 Gag polyprotein precursor has multiple domains including nucleocapsid (NC). Although mature NC and NC embedded in Gag are nucleic acid chaperones (proteins that remodel nucleic acid structure), few studies include detailed analysis of the chaperone activity of partially processed Gag proteins and comparison with NC and Gag. Here we address this issue by using a reconstituted minus-strand transfer system. NC and NC-containing Gag proteins exhibited annealing and duplex destabilizing activities required for strand transfer. Surprisingly, unlike NC, with increasing concentrations, Gag proteins drastically inhibited the DNA elongation step. This result is consistent with "nucleic acid-driven multimerization" of Gag and the reported slow dissociation of Gag from bound nucleic acid, which prevent reverse transcriptase from traversing the template ("roadblock" mechanism). Our findings illustrate one reason why NC (and not Gag) has evolved as a critical cofactor in reverse transcription, a paradigm that might also extend to other retrovirus systems.

A succession of mechanisms stimulate efficient reconstituted HIV-1 minus strand strong stop DNA transfer

Donor-acceptor template systems in vitro were designed to test mechanisms of minus strand transfer of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). Donor RNA D199, extending from the 5' end of the HIV-1 genome to the primer binding site (PBS), promoted transfer to only 35% with an acceptor RNA representing the 3' terminal 97 nucleotides, whereas donor RNA D520, including an additional 321 nucleotides 3' of PBS, exhibited 75% transfer. Both donors transferred through an invasion-driven pathway, but transfer was stimulated by the folding structure resulting from the extra segment in D520. In this study, the significance of interaction between the tRNA(lys3) primer and U3 was examined. Measurements utilizing acceptors having or lacking the U3 region complementary with tRNA(lys3) indicated that a tRNA(lys3)-U3 interaction compensated for inefficient acceptor invasion observed with D199. Stimulation presumably occurred because binding to tRNA(lys3) increased the proximity of the acceptor to elongated cDNA, improving transfer to 78% efficiency with D199, and even higher to 85% with D520. The stimulation did not require natural viral sequences but could be achieved by substituting the original U3 sequence with an equal length sequence that binds a different region of tRNA(lys3). Comparison between acceptors sharing the natural region for tRNA(lys3)-U3 interaction but having or lacking the acceptor invasion site demonstrated that tRNA(lys3)-U3 interaction and acceptor invasion cooperate for maximal stimulation. Overall, observations suggest that both proximity and invasion mechanisms are applied successively by HIV-1 for efficient minus strand transfer.

The nucleocapsid protein of HIV-1 as a promising therapeutic target for antiviral drugs

The nucleocapsid protein (NCp7) is a major HIV-1 structural protein that plays key roles in viral replication, mainly through its conserved zinc fingers that direct specific interactions with the viral nucleic acids. Owing to its high degree of conservation and critical functions, NCp7 represents a target of choice for drugs that can potentially complement HAART, thus possibly impairing the circulation of drug-resistant HIV-1 strains. Zinc ejectors showing potent antiretroviral activity were developed, but early generations suffered from limited selectively and significant toxicity. Compounds with improved selectivity have been developed and are being explored as topical microbicide candidates. Several classes of molecules inhibiting the interaction of NCp7 with the viral nucleic acids have also been developed. Although small molecules would be more suited for drug development, most molecules selected by screening showed limited antiretroviral activity. Peptides and RNA aptamers appear to be more promising, but the mechanism of their antiretroviral activity remains elusive. Substantial and more concerted efforts are needed to further develop anti-HIV drugs targeting NCp7 and bring them to the clinic.

The remarkable frequency of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 genetic recombination

The genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) results from a combination of point mutations and genetic recombination, and rates of both processes are unusually high. This review focuses on the mechanisms and outcomes of HIV-1 genetic recombination and on the parameters that make recombination so remarkably frequent. Experimental work has demonstrated that the process that leads to recombination--a copy choice mechanism involving the migration of reverse transcriptase between viral RNA templates--occurs several times on average during every round of HIV-1 DNA synthesis. Key biological factors that lead to high recombination rates for all retroviruses are the recombination-prone nature of their reverse transcription machinery and their pseudodiploid RNA genomes. However, HIV-1 genes recombine even more frequently than do those of many other retroviruses. This reflects the way in which HIV-1 selects genomic RNAs for coencapsidation as well as cell-to-cell transmission properties that lead to unusually frequent associations between distinct viral genotypes. HIV-1 faces strong and changeable selective conditions during replication within patients. The mode of HIV-1 persistence as integrated proviruses and strong selection for defective proviruses in vivo provide conditions for archiving alleles, which can be resuscitated years after initial provirus establishment. Recombination can facilitate drug resistance and may allow superinfecting HIV-1 strains to evade preexisting immune responses, thus adding to challenges in vaccine development. These properties converge to provide HIV-1 with the means, motive, and opportunity to recombine its genetic material at an unprecedented high rate and to allow genetic recombination to serve as one of the highest barriers to HIV-1 eradication.

When is it time for reverse transcription to start and go?

Upon cell infection by a retrovirus, the viral DNA polymerase, called reverse transcriptase (RT), copies the genomic RNA to generate the proviral DNA flanked by two long terminal repeats (LTR). A discovery twenty years ago demonstrated that the structural viral nucleocapsid protein (NC) encoded by Gag is an essential cofactor of reverse transcription, chaperoning RT during viral DNA synthesis. However, it is only recently that NC was found to exert a control on the timing of reverse transcription, in a spatio-temporal manner. This brief review summarizes findings on the timing of reverse transcription in wild type HIV-1 and in nucleopcapsid (NC) mutants where virions contain a large amount of newly made viral DNA. This brief review also proposes some explanations of how NC may control late reverse transcription during Gag assembly in virus producer cells.

Retroviral nucleocapsid proteins display nonequivalent levels of nucleic acid chaperone activity

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid protein (NC) is a nucleic acid chaperone that facilitates the remodeling of nucleic acids during various steps of the viral life cycle. Two main features of NC's chaperone activity are its abilities to aggregate and to destabilize nucleic acids. These functions are associated with NC's highly basic character and with its zinc finger domains, respectively. While the chaperone activity of HIV-1 NC has been extensively studied, less is known about the chaperone activities of other retroviral NCs. In this work, complementary experimental approaches were used to characterize and compare the chaperone activities of NC proteins from four different retroviruses: HIV-1, Moloney murine leukemia virus (MLV), Rous sarcoma virus (RSV), and human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). The different NCs exhibited significant differences in their overall chaperone activities, as demonstrated by gel shift annealing assays, decreasing in the order HIV-1 approximately RSV > MLV >> HTLV-1. In addition, whereas HIV-1, RSV, and MLV NCs are effective aggregating agents, HTLV-1 NC, which exhibits poor overall chaperone activity, is unable to aggregate nucleic acids. Measurements of equilibrium binding to single- and double-stranded oligonucleotides suggested that all four NC proteins have moderate duplex destabilization capabilities. Single-molecule DNA-stretching studies revealed striking differences in the kinetics of nucleic acid dissociation between the NC proteins, showing excellent correlation between nucleic acid dissociation kinetics and overall chaperone activity.

The conserved N-terminal basic residues and zinc-finger motifs of HIV-1 nucleocapsid restrict the viral cDNA synthesis during virus formation and maturation

Reverse transcription of the genomic RNA by reverse transcriptase occurs soon after HIV-1 infection of target cells. The viral nucleocapsid (NC) protein chaperones this process via its nucleic acid annealing activities and its interactions with the reverse transcriptase enzyme. To function, NC needs its two conserved zinc fingers and flanking basic residues. We recently reported a new role for NC, whereby it negatively controls reverse transcription in the course of virus formation. Indeed, deleting its zinc fingers causes reverse transcription activation in virus producer cells. To investigate this new NC function, we used viruses with subtle mutations in the conserved zinc fingers and its flanking domains. We monitored by quantitative PCR the HIV-1 DNA content in producer cells and in produced virions. Results showed that the two intact zinc-finger structures are required for the temporal control of reverse transcription by NC throughout the virus replication cycle. The N-terminal basic residues also contributed to this new role of NC, while Pro-31 residue between the zinc fingers and Lys-59 in the C-terminal region did not. These findings further highlight the importance of NC as a major target for anti-HIV-1 drugs.

Functional complementation of nucleocapsid and late domain PTAP mutants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 during replication

During human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) assembly, the nucleocapsid (NC) and the PTAP motif in p6 of Gag play important roles in RNA encapsidation and virus release, respectively. We have previously demonstrated that functional complementation occurs between an NC mutant and a PTAP mutant to rescue viral replication. In this report, we examined the amounts of functional NC and PTAP motif that are required during virus replication. When NC and PTAP mutants were coexpressed at 5:1, 5:5, and 1:5 ratios, virus titers were rescued at 5%, 51%, and 86% of the wild-type level, respectively. These results indicate that HIV-1 requires a small amount of functional PTAP motif but far more functional NC to complete efficient replication. Further analyses reveal that RNA packaging can be significantly rescued in viruses containing a small amount of functional NC. However, most of the NC proteins must be functional to generate the wild-type level of R-U5 DNA product. Once the R-U5 product is generated, viruses containing half of the functional NC can complete reverse transcription and DNA integration at near-wild-type efficiency. These results define the quantitative requirements of NC and p6 during HIV-1 replication and provide insights into the requirement for the development of anti-HIV strategies using NC and p6 as targets.

Nucleocapsid protein function in early infection processes

The role of nucleocapsid protein (NC) in the early steps of retroviral replication appears largely that of a facilitator for reverse transcription and integration. Using a wide variety of cell-free assay systems, the properties of mature NC proteins (e.g. HIV-1 p7(NC) or MLV p10(NC)) as nucleic acid chaperones have been extensively investigated. The effect of NC on tRNA annealing, reverse transcription initiation, minus-strand-transfer, processivity of reverse transcription, plus-strand-transfer, strand-displacement synthesis, 3' processing of viral DNA by integrase, and integrase-mediated strand-transfer has been determined by a large number of laboratories. Interestingly, these reactions can all be accomplished to varying degrees in the absence of NC; some are facilitated by both viral and non-viral proteins and peptides that may or may not be involved in vivo. What is one to conclude from the observation that NC is not strictly required for these necessary reactions to occur? NC likely enhances the efficiency of each of these steps, thereby vastly improving the productivity of infection. In other words, one of the major roles of NC is to enhance the effectiveness of early infection, thereby increasing the probability of productive replication and ultimately of retrovirus survival.

Strand transfer events during HIV-1 reverse transcription

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and other retroviruses replicate through reverse transcription, a process in which the single stranded RNA of the viral genome is converted to a double stranded DNA. The virally encoded reverse transcriptase (RT) mediates reverse transcription through DNA polymerase and RNase H activities. Conversion of the plus strand RNA to plus/minus strand RNA/DNA hybrid involves a transfer of the growing DNA strand from one site on the genomic RNA to another. This is called minus strong-stop DNA transfer. Later synthesis of the second or plus DNA strand involves a second strand transfer, involving a similar mechanism as the minus strand transfer. A basic feature of the strand transfer mechanism is the use of the RT RNase H to remove segments of the RNA template strand from the growing DNA strand, freeing a single stranded region to anneal to the second site. Viral nucleocapsid protein (NC) functions to promote transfer by facilitating this strand exchange process. Two copies of the RNA genomes, sometimes non-identical, are co-packaged in the genomes of retroviruses. The properties of the reverse transcriptase allow a transfer of the growing DNA strand between these genomes to occur occasionally at any point during reverse transcription, producing recombinant viral progeny. Recombination promotes structural diversity of the virus that helps it to survive host immunity and drug therapy. Recombination strand transfer can be forced by a break in the template, or can occur at sites where folding structure of the template pauses the RT, allowing a concentration of RNase H cleavages that promote transfers. Transfer can be a simple one-step process, or can proceed by a complex multi-step invasion mechanism. In this latter process, the second RNA template interacts with the growing DNA strand well behind the DNA 3'-terminus. The newly formed RNA-DNA hybrid expands by branch migration and eventually catches the elongating DNA primer 3'-terminus to complete the transfer. Transfers are also promoted by interactions between the two RNA templates, which accelerate transfer by a proximity effect. Other details of the role of strand transfers in reverse transcription and the biochemical features of the transfer reaction are discussed.

The diversity of retrotransposons and the properties of their reverse transcriptases

A number of abundant mobile genetic elements called retrotransposons reverse transcribe RNA to generate DNA for insertion into eukaryotic genomes. Four major classes of retrotransposons are described here. First, the long-terminal-repeat (LTR) retrotransposons have similar structures and mechanisms to those of the vertebrate retroviruses. Genes that may enable these retrotransposons to leave a cell have been acquired by these elements in a number of animal and plant lineages. Second, the tyrosine recombinase retrotransposons are similar to the LTR retrotransposons except that they have substituted a recombinase for the integrase and recombine into the host chromosomes. Third, the non-LTR retrotransposons use a cleaved chromosomal target site generated by an encoded endonuclease to prime reverse transcription. Finally, the Penelope-like retrotransposons are not well understood but appear to also use cleaved DNA or the ends of chromosomes as primer for reverse transcription. Described in the second part of this review are the enzymatic properties of the reverse transcriptases (RTs) encoded by retrotransposons. The RTs of the LTR retrotransposons are highly divergent in sequence but have similar enzymatic activities to those of retroviruses. The RTs of the non-LTR retrotransposons have several unique properties reflecting their adaptation to a different mechanism of retrotransposition.

Proximity and branch migration mechanisms in HIV-1 minus strand strong stop DNA transfer

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 minus strand transfer was measured using a genomic donor-acceptor template system in vitro. Donor RNA D199, having the minimum region required for minus strong stop DNA synthesis, was previously shown to transfer with 35% efficiency to an acceptor RNA representing the 3' repeat region. Donor D520, having an additional 321-nucleotide segment extending into gag, transferred at 75% efficiency. In this study each transfer step was analyzed to account for the difference. Measurement of terminal transfer indicated that the 3' terminus of the cDNA generated using D520 is more accessible for transfer than that of D199. Nevertheless, acceptor competition experiments demonstrated that D520 has a greater preference for invasion-driven versus terminal transfer than D199. Competition mapping showed that the base of the transactivation response element is the primary invasion site for D520, important for efficient acceptor invasion. Acceptors complementary to the invasion and terminal transfer sites, but not the region between, allowed assessment of the significance of hybrid propagation by branch migration. These bipartite acceptors showed that with D520, invasion raises the local concentration of the acceptor for efficient terminal transfer by a proximity effect. However, with D199, invasion is relatively inefficient, and the cDNA 3' terminus is not very accessible. For most transfers that occurred, the acceptor accessed the cDNA 3' end by branch migration. Results suggest that both proximity and branch migration mechanisms contribute to transfers, with the proportion determined by donor-cDNA structure. D520 transfers better because it has greater accessibility for both invasion and terminus transfer.

The single-finger nucleocapsid protein of moloney murine leukemia virus binds and destabilizes the TAR sequences of HIV-1 but does not promote efficiently their annealing

The retroviral nucleocapsid proteins (NCs) are small proteins with either one or two conserved zinc fingers flanked by basic domains. NCs play key roles during reverse transcription by chaperoning the obligatory strand transfers. In HIV-1, the first DNA strand transfer relies on the NCp7-promoted destabilization and subsequent annealing of the transactivation response element, TAR with its complementary cTAR sequence. NCp7 chaperone activity relies mainly on its two folded fingers. Since NCs with a unique zinc finger are encoded by gammaretroviruses such as the canonical Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV), our objective was to characterize, by fluorescence techniques, the binding and chaperone activities of the NCp10 protein of MoMuLV to the TAR sequences of HIV-1. The unique finger and the flanking 12-25 and 40-48 domains of NCp10 were found to bind and destabilize cTAR stem-loop almost as efficiently as the homologous NCp7 protein. The flanking domains were essential for properly positioning the finger and, notably, the Trp35 residue onto cTAR. Thus, the binding and destabilization determinants scattered on the two NCp7 fingers are encoded by the unique finger of NCp10 and its flanking domains. NCp10 also activates the cTAR/TAR annealing reaction, but less efficiently than NCp7, suggesting that the two NCp7 fingers promote in concert the rate-limiting nucleation of the duplex. Due to its ability to mimic NCp7, the simple structure of NCp10 might be useful to design peptidomimetics aimed at inhibiting HIV replication.

Investigating the mechanism of the nucleocapsid protein chaperoning of the second strand transfer during HIV-1 DNA synthesis

Conversion of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genomic RNA into the proviral DNA by reverse transcriptase involves two obligatory strand transfers that are chaperoned by the nucleocapsid protein (NC). The second strand transfer relies on the annealing of the (-) and (+) copies of the primer binding site, (-)PBS and (+) PBS, which fold into complementary stem-loops (SLs) with terminal single-stranded overhangs. To understand how NC chaperones their hybridization, we investigated the annealing kinetics of fluorescently labelled (+)PBS with various (-)PBS derivatives. In the absence of NC, the (+)/(-)PBS annealing was governed by a second-order pathway nucleated mainly by the single-stranded overhangs of the two PBS SLs. The annealing reaction appeared to be rate-limited by the melting of the stable G.C-rich stem subsequent to the formation of the partially annealed intermediate. A second pathway nucleated through the loops could be detected, but was very minor. NC(11-55), which consists primarily of the zinc finger domain, increased the (-)/(+) PBS annealing kinetics by about sixfold, by strongly activating the interaction between the PBS loops. NC(11-55) also activated (-)/(+) PBS annealing through the single-strand overhangs, but by a factor of only 2. Full-length NC(1-55) further increased the (-)/(+)PBS annealing kinetics by tenfold. The NC-promoted (-)/(+)PBS mechanism proved to be similar with extended (-)DNA molecules, suggesting that it is relevant in the context of proviral DNA synthesis. These findings favour the notion that the ubiquitous role of NC in the viral life-cycle probably relies on the ability of NC to chaperone nucleic acid hybridization via different mechanisms.

Insights into the multiple roles of pausing in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase-promoted strand transfers

We previously analyzed the role of pausing induced by hairpin structures within RNA templates in facilitating strand transfer by HIV-1 RT (reverse transcriptase). We proposed a multistep transfer mechanism in which pause-induced RNase H cuts within the initial RNA template (donor) expose regions of cDNA. A second homologous RNA template (acceptor) can interact with the cDNA at such sites, initiating transfer. The acceptor-cDNA hybrid is thought to then propagate by branch-migration, eventually catching up with the primer terminus and completing the transfer. The prominent pause site in the template system facilitated acceptor invasion; however, very few of the transfers terminated at this pause. To examine the effects of homology on pause-promoted transfer, we increased template homology before the pause site, from 19 nucleotides (nt) in the initial template system to 52 nt in the new system. Significantly, the increased homology enhanced transfers 3-fold, with 32% of the transfers now terminating at the pause site. Additionally, the acceptor cleavage profile indicated the creation of a new invasion site in the added region of homology. NC (nucleocapsid) increased the strand transfer throughout the whole template. However, the prominent hot spot for internal transfer remained, which was still at the pause site. We interpret the new results to mean that pause sites can also serve to stall DNA synthesis, allowing acceptor invasions initiated earlier in the template to catch up with the primer terminus.

Mechanistic studies of mini-TAR RNA/DNA annealing in the absence and presence of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein

HIV-1 reverse transcription involves several nucleic acid rearrangements, which are catalyzed by the nucleocapsid protein (NC). Annealing of the trans-activation response element (TAR) DNA hairpin to a complementary TAR RNA hairpin, resulting in the formation of an extended 98-base-pair duplex, is an essential step in the minus-strand transfer step of reverse transcription. To elucidate the TAR RNA/DNA annealing reaction pathway, annealing kinetics were studied systematically by gel-shift assays performed in the presence or absence of HIV-1 NC. Truncated 27 nucleotide mini-TAR RNA and DNA constructs were used in this work. In the absence of NC, the annealing is slow, and involves the fast formation of an unstable extended "kissing" loop intermediate, followed by a slower strand exchange between the terminal stems. This annealing is very sensitive to loop-loop complementarity, as well as to nucleic acid concentration, ionic strength and temperature. NC stimulates the annealing approximately 5000-fold by stabilizing the bimolecular intermediate approximately 100 to 200-fold, and promoting the subsequent strand exchange reaction approximately 10 to 20-fold. NC concentration dependence studies suggest that there is a direct correlation between the amount of NC required to stabilize the intermediate and the amount needed to induce mini-TAR aggregation. Whereas saturating levels of NC are required to efficiently aggregate nucleic acids, sub-saturating NC is sufficient to significantly enhance duplex destabilization. Equilibrium levels of mini-TAR RNA/DNA annealing were also measured under a variety of conditions. Taken together, the results presented here provide a quantitative accounting of HIV-1 NC's aggregation and duplex destabilizing activity, and provide insights into the universal nucleic acid chaperone activity of this essential viral protein.

A Tryptophan-Rich Hexapeptide Inhibits Nucleic Acid Destabilization Chaperoned by the HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Protein

The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of HIV-1 exerts critical functions in viral genome replication and virus assembly. Since the recognition of target nucleic acids is required in the initial step of most NC-mediated processes, attempts were made to find small molecules capable of competing with this recognition. In particular, several Trp-rich hexapeptides were recently found to strongly bind RNA sequences targeted by NC. To further validate these peptides as potential anti-NC agents, we studied the ability of Ac-HKWPWW-NH2, taken as a representative, to interfere with the NC chaperone properties required during reverse transcription. Using NMR and steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, we characterized the structure of Ac-HKWPWW-NH2 as well as its binding to viral sequences such as TAR and PBS involved in the two obligatory strand transfers of reverse transcription. Results show that Ac-HKWPWW-NH2 exhibits an almost symmetric cis-trans equilibrium at the level of the Pro residue where it is structured. The peptide binds both TAR and PBS sequences with low micromolar affinities. The cis-Pro and trans-Pro conformations of the peptide bind with comparable affinities to (-)PBS, mainly through stacking interactions between the Trp residues and the (-)PBS bases. Though all three Trp residues may contribute to the (-)PBS/Ac-HKWPWW-NH2 complex formation, Trp3 and Trp5 residues are the key residues in the complexes with the cis-Pro and trans-Pro conformations, respectively. Moreover, Ac-HKWPWW-NH2 stabilizes cTAR secondary structure and largely inhibits the NC-directed melting of cTAR. This further strengthens the interest of this peptide for deriving modified peptides capable of inhibiting NC and HIV-1 replication.

Stimulation of HIV-1 minus strand strong stop DNA transfer by genomic sequences 3' of the primer binding site

The mechanism of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) minus strand transfer was examined using a genomic RNA sequence-based donor-acceptor template system. The donor RNA, D199, was a 199-nucleotide sequence from the 5'-end of the genome to the primer binding site (PBS) and shared 97 nucleotides of homology with the acceptor RNA. To investigate the influence of RNA structure on transfer, a second donor RNA, D520, was generated by extending the 3'-end of D199 to include an additional 321 nucleotides of the genome. The position of priming, length of homology with the acceptor, and length of cDNA synthesized were identical with the two donors. Interestingly, at 200% NC coating, donor D520 yielded a transfer efficiency of about 75% compared with about 35% with D199. A large proportion of the D520 promoted transfers occurred after the donor RNA was copied to the end. Analysis of donor RNA cleavage, the acceptor invasion site and R homology requirements indicated that transfers with D520 involved a similar but more efficient acceptor invasion mechanism compared with D199. RNA structure probing by RNase T1 and the RT pause profile during synthesis indicated conformational differences between D199 and D520 in the starting structure, and in dynamic structures formed during synthesis within the R region. Overall observations suggest that regions 3' of the primer binding site influence the conformation of the R region of D520 to facilitate steps that promote strand transfer.

Nucleotide excision repair and template-independent addition by HIV-1 reverse transcriptase in the presence of nucleocapsid protein

During HIV replication, reverse transcriptase (RT), assisted by the nucleocapsid protein (NC), converts the genomic RNA into proviral DNA. This process appears to be the major source of genetic variability, as RT can misincorporate nucleotides during minus and plus strand DNA synthesis. To investigate nucleotide addition or substitution by RT, we set up in vitro models containing HIV-1 RNA, cDNA, NC, and various RTs. We used the wild type RT and azidothymidine- and didanosine-resistant RTs, because they represent the major forms of resistant RTs selected in patients undergoing therapies. Results show that all RTs can add nucleotides in a non-template fashion at the cDNA 3'-end, a reaction stimulated by NC. Nucleotide substitutions were examined using in vitro systems where 3'-mutated cDNAs were extended by RT on an HIV-1 RNA template. With NC, RT extension of the mutated cDNAs was efficient, and surprisingly, mutations were frequently corrected. These results suggest for the first time that RT has excision-repair activity that is triggered by NC. Chaperoning of RT by NC might be explained by the fact that NC stabilizes an RT-DNA binary complex. In conclusion, RT-NC interactions appear to play critical roles in HIV-1 variability.

During the early phase of HIV-1 DNA synthesis, nucleocapsid protein directs hybridization of the TAR complementary sequences via the ends of their double-stranded stem

Reverse transcription of HIV-1 genomic RNA requires two obligatory strand transfers. During the first strand transfer reaction, the minus strand strong-stop DNA (ss-cDNA) is transferred by hybridization of complementary sequences located at the 3' ends of the ss-cDNA and genomic template, respectively. In HIV-1, the major components of ss-cDNA transfer are the terminally redundant structured TAR elements and the nucleocapsid protein NCp7, which actively chaperones the hybridization of cTAR DNA to TAR. In the present study, we investigated the annealing kinetics of TAR with fluorescently labelled cTAR derivatives both in the absence and in the presence of NC(12-55), a peptide that contains the finger and C-terminal domains of NCp7. The annealing of TAR with cTAR involves two second-order kinetic components that are activated by at least two orders of magnitude by NC(12-55). The NC-promoted activation of cTAR-TAR annealing was correlated with its ability to destabilize the lower half of TAR stem, in order to generate the single-stranded complementary regions for nucleating the duplex structures. The two kinetics components have been assigned to two different pathways. The rapid one does not lead to extended duplex formation but is associated with a limited annealing of the terminal bases of cTAR to TAR. On the other hand, extended duplex formation follows a slower pathway that is limited kinetically by the nucleation of residues located mainly within the central double-stranded segment of both cTAR and TAR stems. An alternative mechanism involving an interaction through TAR and cTAR loops has been observed but is a minor pathway in the present conditions.

Investigation by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy of the chaperoning interactions of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein with the viral DNA initiation sequences

HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein (NC) exhibits nucleic acid chaperone properties that are important during reverse transcription. Herein, we review and extend our recent investigation by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) of the NC chaperone activity on the primer binding site sequences (PBS) of the (-) and (+) DNA strands, which are involved in the second strand transfer during reverse transcription. In the absence of NC, the PBS stem-loops exhibited a fraying limited to the terminal G-C base pair. The kinetics of fraying were significantly activated by NC, a feature that may favour (-)PBS/(+)PBS annealing during the second strand transfer. In addition, NC was found to promote the formation of PBS kissing homodimers through interaction between the loops. These kissing complexes may favour secondary contacts between viral sequences and thus, promote recombination and viral diversity.

Equine infectious anemia virus Gag p9 function in early steps of virus infection and provirus production

We have previously reported that serial truncation of the Gag p9 protein of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) revealed a progressive loss in replication phenotypes in transfected cells, such that a proviral mutant (E32) expressing the N-terminal 31 amino acids of p9 produced infectious virus particles similarly to parental provirus, while a proviral mutant (K30) with two fewer amino acids produced replication-defective virus particles, despite containing apparently normal levels of processed Gag and Pol proteins (C. Chen, F. Li, and R. C. Montelaro, J. Virol. 75:9762-9760, 2001). Based on these observations, we sought in the current study to identify the precise defect in K30 virion infection of permissive equine dermal (ED) cells. The results of these experiments clearly demonstrated that K30 virions entered target ED cells and produced early (minus-strand strong-stop) and late (Gag) viral DNA products as efficiently as did the replication-competent E32 mutant and parental EIAV(UK) viruses. However, in contrast to the replication-competent E32 mutant and parental viruses, infection with K30 mutant virus failed to produce detectable two-long-terminal-repeat DNA circles, stable integrated provirus, virus-specific Gag mRNA expression, or intracellular viral protein expression. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the K30 mutant is defective in the ability to produce sufficient nuclear viral DNA to establish a productive infection in ED cells. Thus, these observations indicate for the first time that the EIAV Gag p9 protein performs a critical role in viral DNA production and processing to provirus during EIAV infection, in addition to its previously defined role in viral budding mediated by the p9 L domain.

Specific Interactions Between HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Protein and the TAR Element

During retroviral reverse transcription, the minus-strand strong-stop DNA (ss-cDNA) is transferred to the 3' end of the genomic RNA and this requires the repeat (R) sequences present at both ends of the genome. In vitro, the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) R sequence can promote DNA strand transfer when present in ectopic internal positions. Using HIV-1 model systems, the R sequences and nucleocapsid protein (NC) were found to be key determinants of ss-cDNA transfer. To gain insights into specific interactions between HIV-1 NC and RNA and the influence of NC on R folding, we investigated the secondary structures of R in two natural contexts, namely at the 5' or 3' end of RNAs representing the terminal regions of the genome, and in two ectopic internal positions that also support efficient minus-strand transfer. To investigate the roles of NC zinc fingers and flanking basic domains in the NC/RNA interactions, we used NC mutants. Analyses of the viral RNA/NC complexes by chemical and enzymatic probings, and gel retardation assays were performed under conditions allowing ss-cDNA transfer by reverse transcriptase. We report that NC binds the TAR apical loop specifically in the four genetic contexts without changing the folding of the TAR hairpin and R region significantly, and this requires the NC zinc fingers. In addition, we show that efficient annealing of cTAR DNA to the 3' R relies on sequence complementarities between TAR and cTAR terminal loops. These findings suggest that the TAR apical loop in the acceptor RNA is the initiation site for the annealing reaction that is chaperoned by NC during the minus-strand transfer.

Cooperative effect of gag proteins p12 and capsid during early events of murine leukemia virus replication

The Gag polyprotein of murine leukemia virus (MLV) is processed into matrix (MA), p12, capsid (CA), and nucleocapsid (NC) proteins. p12 affects early events of virus replication and contains a PPPY motif important for virus release. To probe the functions of p12 in the early steps of MLV replication, we tested whether p12 can be replaced by spleen necrosis virus (SNV) p18, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 p6, or Rous sarcoma virus p2b. Analyses revealed that all chimeras generated virions at levels similar to that of MLV gag-pol; however, none of them could support MLV vector replication, and all of them exhibited severely reduced DNA synthesis upon virus infection. Because a previously reported SNV gag-MLV pol chimera, but not the MLV hybrid with SNV p18, can support replication of an MLV vector, we hypothesized that other Gag proteins act cooperatively with p12 during the early phase of virus replication. To test this hypothesis, we generated three more MLV-based chimeras containing SNV CA, p18-CA, or p18-CA-NC. We found that the MLV chimera containing SNV p18-CA or p18-CA-NC could support MLV vector replication, but the chimera containing SNV CA could not. Furthermore, viruses derived from the MLV chimera with SNV CA could synthesize viral DNA upon infection but were blocked at a post-reverse-transcription step and generated very little two long terminal repeat circle DNA, thereby producing a phenotype similar to that of the provirus formation-defective p12 mutants. Taken together, our data indicate that when p12/p18 or CA was from different viruses, despite abundant virus production and proper Gag processing, the resulting viruses were not infectious. However, when p12/p18 and CA were from the same virus, even though they were from SNV and not MLV, the resulting viruses were infectious. Therefore, these results suggest a cooperative effect of p12 and CA during the early events of MLV replication.

Structural determinants of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein for cTAR DNA binding and destabilization, and correlation with inhibition of self-primed DNA synthesis

The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is formed of two highly conserved CCHC zinc fingers flanked by small basic domains. NC is required for the two obligatory strand transfers in viral DNA synthesis through its nucleic acid chaperoning properties. The first DNA strand transfer relies on NC's ability to bind and destabilize the secondary structure of complementary transactivation response region (cTAR) DNA, to inhibit self-priming, and to promote the annealing of cTAR to TAR RNA. To further investigate NC chaperone properties, our aim was to identify by fluorescence spectroscopy and gel electrophoresis, the NC structural determinants for cTAR binding and destabilization, and for the inhibition of self-primed DNA synthesis on a model system using a series of NC mutants and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. NC destabilization and self-priming inhibition properties were found to be supported by the two fingers in their proper context and the basic (29)RAPRKKG(35) linker. The strict requirement of the native proximal finger suggests that its hydrophobic platform (Val13, Phe16, Thr24 and Ala25) is crucial for binding, destabilization and inhibition of self-priming. In contrast, only partial folding of the distal finger is required, probably for presenting the Trp37 residue in an appropriate orientation. Also, Trp37 and the hydrophobic residues of the proximal finger appear to be essential for the propagation of the melting from the cTAR ends up to the middle of the stem. Finally, both N-terminal and C-terminal basic domains contribute to cTAR binding but not to its destabilization.

Secondary structure and secondary structure dynamics of DNA hairpins complexed with HIV-1 NC protein

Reverse transcription of the HIV-1 RNA genome involves several complex nucleic acid rearrangement steps that are catalyzed by the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein (NC), including for example, the annealing of the transactivation response (TAR) region of the viral RNA to the complementary region (TAR DNA) in minus-strand strong-stop DNA. We report herein single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements on single immobilized TAR DNA hairpins and hairpin mutants complexed with NC (i.e., TAR DNA/NC). Using this approach we have explored the conformational distribution and dynamics of the hairpins in the presence and absence of NC protein. The data demonstrate that NC shifts the equilibrium secondary structure of TAR DNA hairpins from a fully "closed" conformation to essentially one specific "partially open" conformation. In this specific conformation, the two terminal stems are "open" or unwound and the other stems are closed. This partially open conformation is arguably a key TAR DNA intermediate in the NC-induced annealing mechanism of TAR DNA.

Zinc coupling potentiates anti-HIV-1 activity of baicalin

Baicalin (BA) has been shown with anti-HIV-1 activity. Zinc is a nutrient element. The anti-HIV-1 activity of zinc complex of baicalin (BA-Zn) in vitro was studied and compared with the anti-HIV-1 activities between BA and BA-Zn in the present study. Our results suggested that BA-Zn has lower cytotoxicity and higher anti-HIV-1 activity compared with those of BA in vitro. The CC50s of BA-Zn and BA were 221.52 and 101.73 microM, respectively. The cytotoxicity of BA-Zn was about 1.2-fold lower than that of BA. The BA and BA-Zn inhibited HIV-1 induced syncytium formation, HIV-1 p24 antigen and HIV-1 RT production. The EC50s of BA-Zn on inhibiting HIV-1 induced syncytium formation (29.08 microM) and RT production (31.17 microM) were lower than those of BA (43.27 and 47.34 microM, respectively). BA-Zn was more effective than BA in inhibiting the activities of recombinant RT and HIV-1 entry into host cells. Zinc coupling enhanced the anti-HIV-1 activity of baicalin.

HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein binds to the viral DNA initiation sequences and chaperones their kissing interactions

The chaperone properties of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid protein (NC) are required for the two obligatory strand transfer reactions occurring during viral DNA synthesis. The second strand transfer relies on the destabilization and the subsequent annealing of the primer binding site sequences (PBS) at the 3' end of the (-) and (+) DNA strands. To characterize the binding and chaperone properties of NC on the (-)PBS and (+)PBS sequences, we monitored by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy as well as by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy the interaction of NC with wild type and mutant oligonucleotides corresponding to the (-)PBS and (+)PBS hairpins. NC was found to bind with high affinity to the loop, the stem and the single-stranded protruding sequence of both PBS sequences. NC induces only a limited destabilization of the secondary structure of both sequences, activating the transient melting of the stem only during its "breathing" period. This probably results from the high stability of the PBS due to the four G-C pairs in the stem. In contrast, NC directs the formation of "kissing" homodimers efficiently for both (-)PBS and (+)PBS sequences. Salt-induced dimerization and mutations in the (-)PBS sequence suggest that these homodimers may be stabilized by two intermolecular G-C Watson-Crick base-pairs between the partly self-complementary loops. The propensity of NC to promote the dimerization of partly complementary sequences may favor secondary contacts between viral sequences and thus, recombination and viral diversity.

Alteration of nucleic acid structure and stability modulates the efficiency of minus-strand transfer mediated by the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein

During human immunodeficiency virus type 1 minus-strand transfer, the nucleocapsid protein (NC) facilitates annealing of the complementary repeat regions at the 3'-ends of acceptor RNA and minus-strand strong-stop DNA ((-) SSDNA). In addition, NC destabilizes the highly structured complementary trans-activation response element (TAR) stem-loop (TAR DNA) at the 3'-end of (-) SSDNA and inhibits TAR-induced self-priming, a dead-end reaction that competes with minus-strand transfer. To investigate the relationship between nucleic acid secondary structure and NC function, a series of truncated (-) SSDNA and acceptor RNA constructs were used to assay minus-strand transfer and self-priming in vitro. The results were correlated with extensive enzymatic probing and mFold analysis. As the length of (-) SSDNA was decreased, self-priming increased and was highest when the DNA contained little more than TAR DNA, even if NC and acceptor were both present; in contrast, truncations within TAR DNA led to a striking reduction or elimination of self-priming. However, destabilization of TAR DNA was not sufficient for successful strand transfer: the stability of acceptor RNA was also crucial, and little or no strand transfer occurred if the RNA was highly stable. Significantly, NC may not be required for in vitro strand transfer if (-) SSDNA and acceptor RNA are small, relatively unstructured molecules with low thermodynamic stabilities. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that for efficient NC-mediated minus-strand transfer, a delicate thermodynamic balance between the RNA and DNA reactants must be maintained.

Role of the structure of the top half of HIV-1 cTAR DNA on the nucleic acid destabilizing activity of the nucleocapsid protein NCp7

The viral nucleic acid chaperone protein NCp7 of HIV-1 assists the two obligatory strand transfers required for the conversion of the genomic RNA into double-stranded DNA by reverse transcriptase. The first strand transfer necessitates the annealing of the early product of cDNA synthesis, the minus strand strong stop DNA (ss-cDNA) to the 3' end of the genomic RNA. The hybridization reaction involves regions containing imperfect stem-loop (SL) structures, namely the TAR RNA at the 3' end of the genomic RNA and the complementary sequence cTAR at the 3' end of ss-cDNA. To pursue the characterization of the interaction between NCp7 and cTAR DNA, we investigated by absorbance, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, the interaction of NCp7 with wild-type and mutated DNAs representing the top half of cTAR. NCp7 was found to activate the transient melting of this cTAR DNA structure but less efficiently than that of cTAR lower half. The NCp7-induced destabilization of cTAR top half is dependent upon the three nucleotides bulging out of the stem, which thus represent a melting initiation site. In contrast, despite its ability to bind NCp7, the top loop does not play any significant role in NCp7-mediated melting. Thermodynamic data further suggest that NCp7-mediated destabilization of this cTAR structure correlates with the free energy changes afforded by destabilizing motifs like loops and bulges within the SL secondary structure. Interestingly, since NCp7 melts only short double-stranded sequences, destabilizing motifs need to be regularly positioned along the genomic sequence in order to promote strand transfer and thus genetic recombination during proviral DNA synthesis.

Steps of the acceptor invasion mechanism for HIV-1 minus strand strong stop transfer

Minus strand strong stop transfer is obligatory for completion of HIV-1 minus strand synthesis. We previously showed evidence for an acceptor invasion-initiated mechanism for minus strand transfer. In the present study, we examined the major acceptor invasion initiation site using a minus strand transfer system in vitro, containing the 97-nucleotide full-length R region. A series of DNA oligonucleotides complementary to different regions of the cDNA was designed to interfere with transfer. Oligomers covering the region around the base of the TAR hairpin were most effective in inhibiting transfer, suggesting that the hairpin base is a preferred site for acceptor invasion. The strong pausing of reverse transcriptase at the base of the TAR and the concomitant RNase H cleavages 10-19 nucleotides behind the pause site correlated with the location of the invasion site. Oligomers closer to the 5'-end of R also inhibited transfer, though less effectively, presumably by blocking strand exchange and branch migration. We propose that pausing of reverse transcriptase at the base of TAR increases RNase H cleavages, creating gaps for acceptor invasion and transfer initiation. Strand exchange then propagates by branch migration, displacing the fragmented donor RNA, including the fragment at the 5' terminus. The primer terminus switches to the acceptor, completing the transfer. Nucleocapsid (NC) protein stimulated transfer efficiency by 5-7-fold. NC enhanced RNase H cleavages close to the TAR base, creating more effective invasion sites for efficient transfer. Most likely, NC also stimulates transfer by promoting strand exchange invasion and branch migration.

Zinc finger-dependent HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein-TAR RNA interactions

In the minus-strand transfer step of HIV-1 reverse transcription, the nucleocapsid protein (NC) promotes annealing of the 3' 'R' (repeat) region of the RNA genome to its complementary sequence located in the newly synthesized minus-strand strong-stop DNA. The R region contains the highly stable transactivation response (TAR) RNA hairpin. To gain insights into the molecular details of TAR RNA-NC interactions, we carried out hydroxyl radical footprinting, as well as gel-shift and fluorescence anisotropy binding assays using wild-type and mutant forms of NC. Our results support the conclusion that NC variants with mutations in their zinc finger domains have dramatically altered TAR RNA binding interactions relative to wild-type NC. These data demonstrate that a specific zinc finger architecture is required for optimal TAR RNA binding, and help to explain the requirement for the zinc finger motifs of NC in its role as a nucleic acid chaperone in minus-strand transfer.

Secondary structure in the nucleic acid affects the rate of HIV-1 nucleocapsid-mediated strand annealing

We studied the effects of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid (NC) protein on the kinetics of annealing of nucleic acids using model substrates derived from the 3' end of the HIV-1 minus-strand strong-stop DNA (-sssDNA). We used HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) to monitor the annealing reaction. Using several different DNA primers and acceptor oligonucleotides, we found that the rate of annealing increased with the size of the complementary region of the primer and the acceptor strands and decreased when secondary structures could be formed in either the primer or the acceptor strands. The secondary structure had a larger effect on the rate of annealing if the secondary structure extends to the 3' end of the nucleic acid(s). NC protein reduced the rate of annealing between strands with short homologies. NC had no major effect on the rate of annealing when there were at least 13 bases of complementarity between the primer and the acceptor strands and neither strand could form a stable secondary structure. NC increased the rate of annealing when the primer and/or the acceptor strand could form a secondary structure in the region of complementarity. When two strands were in competition as acceptors in an annealing reaction, the specificity of the annealing was determined by the length of the complementarity between the primer and the acceptor strands, the presence or the absence of secondary structures in the primer and/or the acceptor strand, and the presence or the absence of NC in the reaction. This suggests that NC facilitates strand transfer where the nucleic acids have considerable secondary structure (for example, the first strand transfers for viruses whose genomes have considerable secondary structure at their 3' ends). However, NC also appears to increase the fidelity of recombination by reducing strand transfers between segments that have limited complementarity.