Contribution of the Gag-Pol transframe domain p6* and its coding sequence to morphogenesis and replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Amino acid substitutions at the HIV-1 transframe region significantly impair virus infectivity

A transframe region within HIV-1 Gag-Pol (referred to as p6* or p6pol), directly linked to the protease (PR) N-terminus, plays a pivotal role in modulating PR activation. To identify specific p6* residues involved in PR activation, we created a series of p6* mutants by making substitutions for conserved p6* residues. Our results indicate that some p6* mutants were defective in terms of virus infectivity, despite displaying a wild-type virus particle processing pattern. Mutations at p6* F8 reduced virus infectivity associated with insufficient virus processing, due in part to impaired PR maturation and RT packaging. Our data strongly suggest that conserved Phe (F) residues at position 8 of p6* are involved in the PR maturation process.

Conditional activation of an HIV-1 protease attenuated mutant by a leucine zipper dimerization motif

Mature HIV-1 protease (PR) functions as a dimer. Changes in HIV-1 PR activation can block virus assembly via premature or enhanced Gag cleavage. HIV-1 PR precursor contains N terminal-linked p6*, a possible modulating factor in PR activation. We found that p6* replacement with a leucine zipper (LZ) dimerization motif (creating a DWzPR construct) or an LZ insertion at the PR C-terminus significantly reduced virus yields due to enhanced Gag cleavage, suggesting that an LZ insertion promotes PR activation by facilitating PR dimer formation. However, introducing T26S (a PR activity-attenuated mutation) into DWzPR strongly impaired Gag cleavage, except when the native C-terminal p6* tetrapeptide remained at the LZ/PR junction. LZ insertion at the PR C-terminus still strongly enhanced PR T26S Gag cleavage. Our data suggest that in addition to p6* mutations, a single amino acid substitution within PR can impair PR activation, likely due to conformational changes triggered by the PR precursor.

Targeting HIV-1 Protease Autoprocessing for High-throughput Drug Discovery and Drug Resistance Assessment

HIV-1 protease autoprocessing liberates the free mature protease from its Gag-Pol polyprotein precursor through a series of highly regulated autoproteolysis reactions. Herein, we report the development and validation (Z' ≥ 0.50) of a cell-based functional assay for high-throughput screening (HTS) of autoprocessing inhibitors using fusion precursors in combination with AlphaLISA (amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay ELISA). Through pilot screening of a collection of 130 known protease inhibitors, the AlphaLISA assay confirmed all 11 HIV protease inhibitors in the library capable of suppressing precursor autoprocessing at low micromolar concentrations. Meanwhile, other protease inhibitors had no impact on precursor autoprocessing. We next conducted HTS of ~23,000 compounds but found no positive hits. Such high selectivity is advantageous for large-scale HTS campaigns and as anticipated based on assay design because a positive hit needs simultaneously to be nontoxic, cell permeable, and inhibiting precursor autoprocessing. Furthermore, AlphaLISA quantification of fusion precursors carrying mutations known to cause resistance to HIV protease inhibitors faithfully recapitulated the reported resistance, suggesting that precursor autoprocessing is a critical step contributing to drug resistance. Taken together, this reported AlphaLISA platform will provide a useful tool for drug discovery targeting HIV-1 protease autoprocessing and for quantification of PI resistance.

Inhibition of the precursor and mature forms of HIV-1 protease as a tool for drug evaluation

HIV-1 protease (PR) is a homodimeric enzyme that is autocatalytically cleaved from the Gag-Pol precursor. Known PR inhibitors bind the mature enzyme several orders of magnitude more strongly than the PR precursor. Inhibition of PR at the precursor level, however, may stop the process at its rate-limiting step before the proteolytic cascade is initiated. Due to its structural heterogeneity, limited solubility and autoprocessing, the PR precursor is difficult to access by classical methods, and limited knowledge regarding precursor inhibition is available. Here, we describe a cell-based assay addressing precursor inhibition. We used a reporter molecule containing the transframe (TFP) and p6* peptides, PR, and N-terminal fragment of reverse transcriptase flanked by the fluorescent proteins mCherry and EGFP on its N- and C- termini, respectively. The level of FRET between EGFP and mCherry indicates the amount of unprocessed reporter, allowing specific monitoring of precursor inhibition. The inhibition can be quantified by flow cytometry. Additionally, two microscopy techniques confirmed that the reporter remains unprocessed within individual cells upon inhibition. We tested darunavir, atazanavir and nelfinavir and their combinations against wild-type PR. Shedding light on an inhibitor’s ability to act on non-mature forms of PR may aid novel strategies for next-generation drug design.

HIV-1 protease with leucine zipper fused at N-terminus exhibits enhanced linker amino acid-dependent activity

Background

HIV-1 protease (PR) activation is triggered by Gag-Pol dimerization. Premature PR activation results in reduced virion yields due to enhanced Gag cleavage. A p6* transframe peptide located directly upstream of protease is believed to play a modulating role in PR activation. Previous reports indicate that the C-terminal p6* tetra-peptide prevents premature PR activation triggered by a leucine zipper (LZ) dimerization motif inserted in the deleted p6* region. To clarify the involvement of C-terminal p6* residues in mitigating enhanced LZ-incurred Gag processing, we engineered constructs containing C-terminal p6* residue substitutions with and without a mutation blocking the p6*/PR cleavage site, and created other Gag or p6* domain-removing constructs. The capabilities of these constructs to mediate virus maturation were assessed by Western blotting and single-cycle infection assays.

Results

p6*-PR cleavage blocking did not significantly reduce the LZ enhancement effect on Gag cleavage when only four amino acid residues were present between the p6* and PR. This suggests that the potent LZ dimerization motif may enhance PR activation by facilitating PR dimer formation, and that PR precursors may trigger sufficient enzymatic activity without breaking off from the PR N-terminus. Enhanced LZ-induced activation of PR embedded in Gag-Pol was found to be independent of the Gag assembly domain. In contrast, the LZ enhancement effect was markedly reduced when six amino acids were present at the p6*-PR junction, in part due to impaired PR maturation by substitution mutations. We also observed that a proline substitution at the P3 position eliminated the ability of p6*-deleted Gag-Pol to mediate virus maturation, thus emphasizing the importance of C-terminal p6* residues to modulating PR activation.

Conclusions

The ability of HIV-1 C-terminal p6* amino acid residues to modulate PR activation contributes, at least in part, to their ability to counteract enhanced Gag cleavage induced by a leucine zipper substituted for a deleted p6*. Changes in C-terminal p6* residues between LZ and PR may affect PR-mediated virus maturation, thus providing a possible method for assessing HIV-1 protease precursor activation in the context of virus assembly.

Modeling the full length HIV-1 Gag polyprotein reveals the role of its p6 subunit in viral maturation and the effect of non-cleavage site mutations in protease drug resistance

HIV polyprotein Gag is increasingly found to contribute to protease inhibitor resistance. Despite its role in viral maturation and in developing drug resistance, there remain gaps in the knowledge of the role of certain Gag subunits (e.g. p6), and that of non-cleavage mutations in drug resistance. As p6 is flexible, it poses a problem for structural experiments, and is hence often omitted in experimental Gag structural studies. Nonetheless, as p6 is an indispensable component for viral assembly and maturation, we have modeled the full length Gag structure based on several experimentally determined constraints and studied its structural dynamics. Our findings suggest that p6 can mechanistically modulate Gag conformations. In addition, the full length Gag model reveals that allosteric communication between the non-cleavage site mutations and the first Gag cleavage site could possibly result in protease drug resistance, particularly in the absence of mutations in Gag cleavage sites. Our study provides a mechanistic understanding to the structural dynamics of HIV-1 Gag, and also proposes p6 as a possible drug target in anti-HIV therapy.

C-Terminal HIV-1 Transframe p6* Tetrapeptide Blocks Enhanced Gag Cleavage Incurred by Leucine Zipper Replacement of a Deleted p6* Domain

HIV-1 protease (PR) functions as a homodimer mediating virus maturation following virus budding. Gag-Pol dimerization is believed to trigger embedded PR activation by promoting PR dimer formation. Early PR activation can lead to markedly reduced virus yields due to premature Gag cleavage. The p6* peptide, located between Gag and PR, is believed to ensure virus production by preventing early PR maturation. Studies aimed at finding supporting evidence for this proposal are limited due to a reading frame overlap between p6* and the p6gag budding domain. To determine if p6* affects virus production via the modulation of PR activation, we engineered multiple constructs derived from Dp6*PR (an assembly- and processing-competent construct with Pol fused at the inactivated PR C terminus). The data indicated that a p6* deletion adjacent to active PR significantly impaired virus processing. We also observed that the insertion of a leucine zipper (LZ) dimerization motif in the deleted region eliminated virus production in a PR activity-dependent manner, suggesting that the LZ insertion triggered premature PR activation by facilitating PR dimer formation. As few as four C-terminal p6* residues remaining at the p6*/PR junction were sufficient to restore virus yields, with a Gag processing profile similar to that of the wild type. Our study provides supporting evidence in a virus assembly context that the C-terminal p6* tetrapeptide plays a role in preventing premature PR maturation.IMPORTANCE Supporting evidence for the assumption that p6* retards PR maturation in the context of virus assembly is lacking. We found that replacing p6* with a leucine zipper peptide abolished virus assembly due to the significant enhancement of Gag cleavage. However, as few as four C-terminal p6* residues remaining in the deleted region were sufficient for significant PR release, as well as for counteracting leucine zipper-incurred premature Gag cleavage. Our data provide evidence that (i) p6* ensures virus assembly by preventing early PR activation and (ii) four C-terminal p6* residues are critical for modulating PR activation. Current PR inhibitor development efforts are aimed largely at mature PR, but there is a tendency for HIV-1 variants that are resistant to multiple protease inhibitors to emerge. Our data support the idea of modulating PR activation by targeting PR precursors as an alternative approach to controlling HIV-1/AIDS.

HIV Genome-Wide Protein Associations: a Review of 30 Years of Research

The HIV genome encodes a small number of viral proteins (i.e., 16), invariably establishing cooperative associations among HIV proteins and between HIV and host proteins, to invade host cells and hijack their internal machineries. As a known example, the HIV envelope glycoprotein GP120 is closely associated with GP41 for viral entry. From a genome-wide perspective, a hypothesis can be worked out to determine whether 16 HIV proteins could develop 120 possible pairwise associations either by physical interactions or by functional associations mediated via HIV or host molecules. Here, we present the first systematic review of experimental evidence on HIV genome-wide protein associations using a large body of publications accumulated over the past 3 decades. Of 120 possible pairwise associations between 16 HIV proteins, at least 34 physical interactions and 17 functional associations have been identified. To achieve efficient viral replication and infection, HIV protein associations play essential roles (e.g., cleavage, inhibition, and activation) during the HIV life cycle. In either a dispensable or an indispensable manner, each HIV protein collaborates with another viral protein to accomplish specific activities that precisely take place at the proper stages of the HIV life cycle. In addition, HIV genome-wide protein associations have an impact on anti-HIV inhibitors due to the extensive cross talk between drug-inhibited proteins and other HIV proteins. Overall, this study presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of HIV genome-wide protein associations, highlighting meticulous collaborations between all viral proteins during the HIV life cycle.

Stability of HIV Frameshift Site RNA Correlates with Frameshift Efficiency and Decreased Virus Infectivity

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication is strongly dependent upon a programmed ribosomal frameshift. Here we investigate the relationships between the thermodynamic stability of the HIV type 1 (HIV-1) RNA frameshift site stem-loop, frameshift efficiency, and infectivity, using pseudotyped HIV-1 and HEK293T cells. The data reveal a strong correlation between frameshift efficiency and local, but not overall, RNA thermodynamic stability. Mutations that modestly increase the local stability of the frameshift site RNA stem-loop structure increase frameshift efficiency 2-fold to 3-fold in cells. Thus, frameshift efficiency is determined by the strength of the thermodynamic barrier encountered by the ribosome. These data agree with previous in vitro measurements, suggesting that there are no virus- or host-specific factors that modulate frameshifting. The data also indicate that there are no sequence-specific requirements for the frameshift site stem-loop. A linear correlation between Gag-polymerase (Gag-Pol) levels in cells and levels in virions supports the idea of a stochastic virion assembly mechanism. We further demonstrate that the surrounding genomic RNA secondary structure influences frameshift efficiency and that a mutation that commonly arises in response to protease inhibitor therapy creates a functional but inefficient secondary slippery site. Finally, HIV-1 mutants with enhanced frameshift efficiencies are significantly less infectious, suggesting that compounds that increase frameshift efficiency by as little as 2-fold may be effective at suppressing HIV-1 replication.

IMPORTANCE

HIV, like many retroviruses, utilizes a -1 programmed ribosomal frameshift to generate viral enzymes in the form of a Gag-Pol polyprotein precursor. Thus, frameshifting is essential for viral replication. Here, we utilized a panel of mutant HIV strains to demonstrate that in cells, frameshifting efficiency is correlated with the stability of the local thermodynamic barrier to ribosomal translocation. Increasing the stability of the frameshift site RNA increases the frameshift efficiency 2-fold to 3-fold. Mutant viruses with increased frameshift efficiencies have significantly reduced infectivity. These data suggest that this effect might be exploited in the development of novel antiviral strategies.

HIV Genome-Wide Protein Associations: a Review of 30 Years of Research

The HIV genome encodes a small number of viral proteins (i.e., 16), invariably establishing cooperative associations among HIV proteins and between HIV and host proteins, to invade host cells and hijack their internal machineries. As a known example, the HIV envelope glycoprotein GP120 is closely associated with GP41 for viral entry. From a genome-wide perspective, a hypothesis can be worked out to determine whether 16 HIV proteins could develop 120 possible pairwise associations either by physical interactions or by functional associations mediated via HIV or host molecules. Here, we present the first systematic review of experimental evidence on HIV genome-wide protein associations using a large body of publications accumulated over the past 3 decades. Of 120 possible pairwise associations between 16 HIV proteins, at least 34 physical interactions and 17 functional associations have been identified. To achieve efficient viral replication and infection, HIV protein associations play essential roles (e.g., cleavage, inhibition, and activation) during the HIV life cycle. In either a dispensable or an indispensable manner, each HIV protein collaborates with another viral protein to accomplish specific activities that precisely take place at the proper stages of the HIV life cycle. In addition, HIV genome-wide protein associations have an impact on anti-HIV inhibitors due to the extensive cross talk between drug-inhibited proteins and other HIV proteins. Overall, this study presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of HIV genome-wide protein associations, highlighting meticulous collaborations between all viral proteins during the HIV life cycle.

Gag-Pol Transframe Domain p6* Is Essential for HIV-1 Protease-Mediated Virus Maturation

HIV-1 protease (PR) is encoded by pol, which is initially translated as a Pr160^gag-pol polyprotein by a ribosomal frameshift event. Within Gag-Pol, truncated p6gag is replaced by a transframe domain (referred to as p6* or p6pol) located directly upstream of PR. p6* has been proposed as playing a role in modulating PR activation. Overlapping reading frames between p6* and p6gag present a challenge to researchers using genetic approaches to studying p6* biological functions. To determine the role of p6* in PR activation without affecting the gag reading frame, we constructed a series of Gag/Gag-Pol expression vectors by duplicating PR with or without p6* between PR pairs, and observed that PR duplication eliminated virus production due to significant Gag cleavage enhancement. This effect was mitigated when p6* was placed between the two PRs. Further, Gag cleavage enhancement was markedly reduced when either one of the two PRs was mutationally inactivated. Additional reduction in Gag cleavage efficiency was noted following the removal of p6* from between the two PRs. The insertion of a NC domain (wild-type or mutant) directly upstream of PR or p6*PR did not significantly improve Gag processing efficiency. With the exception of those containing p6* directly upstream of an active PR, all constructs were either noninfectious or weakly infectious. Our results suggest that (a) p6* is essential for triggering PR activation, (b) p6* has a role in preventing premature virus processing, and (c) the NC domain within Gag-Pol is not a major determinant of PR activation.

Understanding HIV-1 protease autoprocessing for novel therapeutic development

In the infected cell, HIV-1 protease (PR) is initially synthesized as part of the GagPol polyprotein. PR autoprocessing is a virus-specific process by which the PR domain embedded in the precursor catalyzes proteolytic reactions responsible for liberation of free mature PRs, which then recognize and cleave at least ten different peptide sequences in the Gag and GagPol polyproteins. Despite extensive structure and function studies of the mature PRs as well as the successful development of ten US FDA-approved catalytic-site inhibitors, the precursor autoprocessing mechanism remains an intriguing yet-to-be-solved puzzle. This article discusses current understanding of the autoprocessing mechanism, in an effort to prompt the development of novel anti-HIV drugs that selectively target precursor autoprocessing.

Protein intrinsic disorder as a flexible armor and a weapon of HIV-1

Many proteins and protein regions are disordered in their native, biologically active states. These proteins/regions are abundant in different organisms and carry out important biological functions that complement the functional repertoire of ordered proteins. Viruses, with their highly compact genomes, small proteomes, and high adaptability for fast change in their biological and physical environment utilize many of the advantages of intrinsic disorder. In fact, viral proteins are generally rich in intrinsic disorder, and intrinsically disordered regions are commonly used by viruses to invade the host organisms, to hijack various host systems, and to help viruses in accommodation to their hostile habitats and to manage their economic usage of genetic material. In this review, we focus on the structural peculiarities of HIV-1 proteins, on the abundance of intrinsic disorder in viral proteins, and on the role of intrinsic disorder in their functions.

Placement of leucine zipper motifs at the carboxyl terminus of HIV-1 protease significantly reduces virion production

Natural HIV-1 protease (PR) is homodimeric. Some researchers believe that interactions between HIV-1 Gag-Pol molecules trigger the activation of embedded PR (which mediates Gag and Gag-Pol cleavage), and that Gag-Pol assembly domains outside of PR may contribute to PR activation by influencing PR dimer interaction in a Gag-Pol context. To determine if the enhancement of PR dimer interaction facilitates PR activation, we placed single or tandem repeat leucine zippers (LZ) at the PR C-terminus, and looked for a correlation between enhanced Gag processing efficiency and increased Gag-PR-LZ multimerization capacity. We found significant reductions in virus-like particles (VLPs) produced by HIV-1 mutants, with LZ fused to the end of PR as a result of enhanced Gag cleavage efficiency. Since VLP production can be restored to wt levels following PR activity inhibition, this assembly defect is considered PR activity-dependent. We also found a correlation between the LZ enhancement effect on Gag cleavage and enhanced Gag-PR multimerization. The results suggest that PR dimer interactions facilitated by forced Gag-PR multimerization lead to premature Gag cleavage, likely a result of premature PR activation. Our conclusion is that placement of a heterologous dimerization domain downstream of PR enhances PR-mediated Gag cleavage efficiency, implying that structural conformation, rather than the primary sequence outside of PR, is a major determinant of HIV-1 PR activation.

Identification of a cellular factor that modulates HIV-1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting

Programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting (PRF) is a distinctive mode of gene expression utilized by some viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), to produce multiple proteins from a single mRNA. -1 PRF induces a subset of elongating ribosomes to shift their translational reading frame by 1 base in the 5' direction. The appropriate ratio of Gag to Gag-Pol synthesis is tightly regulated by the PRF signal which promotes ribosomes to shift frame, and even small changes in PRF efficiency, either up or down, have significant inhibitory effects upon virus production, making PRF essential for HIV-1 replication. Although little has been reported about the cellular factors that modulate HIV-1 PRF, the cis-acting elements regulating PRF have been extensively investigated, and the PRF signal of HIV-1 was shown to include a slippery site and frameshift stimulatory signal. Recently, a genome-wide screen performed to identify cellular factors that affect HIV-1 replication demonstrated that down-regulation of eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) inhibited HIV-1 replication. Because of the eRF1 role in translation, we hypothesized that eRF1 is important for HIV-1 PRF. Using a dual luciferase reporter system harboring a HIV-1 PRF signal, results showed that depletion or inhibition of eRF1 enhanced PRF in yeast, rabbit reticulocyte lysates, and mammalian cells. Consistent with the eRF1 role in modulating HIV PRF, depleting eRF1 increased the Gag-Pol to Gag ratio in cells infected with replication-competent virus. The increase in PRF was independent of a proximal termination codon and did not result from increased ribosomal pausing at the slippery site. This is the first time that a cellular factor has been identified which can promote HIV-1 PRF and highlights HIV-1 PRF as essential for replication and an important but under exploited antiviral drug target.

Cysteine 95 and other residues influence the regulatory effects of Histidine 69 mutations on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 protease autoprocessing

Background

Regulated autoprocessing of HIV Gag-Pol precursor is required for the production of mature and fully active protease. We previously reported that H69E mutation in a pseudo wild type protease sequence significantly (>20-fold) impedes protease maturation in an in vitro autoprocessing assay and in transfected mammalian cells.

Results

Interestingly, H69E mutation in the context of a laboratory adapted NL4-3 protease showed only moderate inhibition (~4-fold) on protease maturation. There are six point mutations (Q7K, L33I, N37S, L63I, C67A, and C95A) between the NL4-3 and the pseudo wild type proteases suggesting that the H69E effect is influenced by other residues. Mutagenesis analyses identified C95 as the primary determinant that dampened the inhibitory effect of H69E. L63 and C67 also demonstrated rescue effect to a less extent. However, the rescue was completely abolished when H69 was replaced by aspartic acid in the NL4-3 backbone. Charge substitutions of surface residues (E21, D30, E34, E35, and F99) to neutral or positively charged amino acids failed to restore protease autoprocessing in the context of H69E mutation.

Conclusions

Taken together, we suggest that residue 69 along with other amino acids such as C95 plus L63 and C67 to a less extent modulate precursor structures for the regulation of protease autoprocessing in the infected cell.

Uncoupling human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag and Pol reading frames: role of the transframe protein p6* in viral replication

Apart from its regulatory role in protease (PR) activation, little is known about the function of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transframe protein p6* in the virus life cycle. p6* is located between the nucleocapsid and PR domains in the Gag-Pol polyprotein precursor and is cleaved by PR during viral maturation. We have recently reported that the central region of p6* can be extensively mutated without abolishing viral infectivity and replication in vitro. However, mutagenesis of the entire p6*-coding sequence in the proviral context is not feasible without affecting the superimposed frameshift signal or the overlapping p1-p6(gag) sequences. To overcome these limitations, we created a novel NL4-3-derived provirus by displacing the original frameshift signal to the 3' end of the gag gene, thereby uncoupling the p6* gene sequence from the p1-p6(gag) reading frame. The resulting virus (AL) proved to be replication competent in different cell cultures and thus represents an elegant tool for detailed analysis of p6* function. Hence, extensive deletions or substitutions were introduced into the p6* gene sequence of the AL provirus, and effects on particle release, protein processing, and viral infectivity were evaluated. Interestingly, neither the deletion of 63% of all p6* residues nor the partial substitution by a heterologous sequence affected virus growth and infectivity, suggesting that p6* is widely dispensable for viral in vitro replication. However, the insertion of a larger reporter sequence interfered with virus production and maturation, implying that the length or conformation of this spacer region might be critical for p6* function.

Influence of extended mutations of the HIV-1 transframe protein p6 on Nef-dependent viral replication and infectivity in vitro

The HIV-1 transframe protein p6 known to modulate HIV-1 protease activation has been suggested to interact with the viral pathogenicity factor Nef. However, a potential interaction site in p6 has not been mapped so far. To evaluate effects of p6 modification on viral replication in light of Nef function, clustered substitutions were introduced into the central p6 region of the infectious provirus NL4-3 and virus growth and composition of the various mutants was analyzed in different cell cultures in the presence or absence of Nef. Whereas clustered p6 substitutions did neither affect particle incorporation of Nef, nor precursor maturation or viral infectivity, a simultaneous substitution of 40 of the total 56 p6 residues significantly diminished viral infectivity and replication in a Nef-independent manner. Furthermore, this extended modification was not capable of rescuing the negative effects of a transdominant Nef mutant on particle production suggesting that the proposed target for Nef interaction in Gag-Pol is located outside the modified p6 region. In sum these data strongly argue against a functional connection of the central p6 region and Nef during viral life cycle.

Importance of protease cleavage sites within and flanking human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transframe protein p6* for spatiotemporal regulation of protease activation

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) has recently been shown to be inhibited by its propeptide p6* in vitro. As p6* itself is a PR substrate, the primary goal of this study was to determine the importance of p6* cleavage for HIV-1 maturation and infectivity. For that purpose, short peptide variants mimicking proposed cleavage sites within and flanking p6* were designed and analyzed for qualitative and quantitative hydrolysis in vitro. Proviral clones comprising the selected cleavage site mutations were established and analyzed for Gag and Pol processing, virus maturation, and infectivity in cultured cells. Amino-terminal cleavage site mutation caused aberrant processing of nucleocapsid proteins and delayed replication kinetics. Blocking the internal cleavage site resulted in the utilization of a flanking site at a significantly decreased hydrolysis rate in vitro, which however did not affect Gag-Pol processing and viral replication. Although mutations blocking cleavage at the p6* carboxyl terminus yielded noninfectious virions exhibiting severe Gag processing defects, mutations retarding hydrolysis of this cleavage site neither seemed to impact viral infectivity and propagation in cultured cells nor seemed to interfere with overall maturation of released viruses. Interestingly, these mutants were shown to be clearly disadvantaged when challenged with wild-type virus in a dual competition assay. In sum, we conclude that p6* cleavage is absolutely essential to allow complete activation of the PR and subsequent processing of the viral precursors.

Effects of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transframe protein p6* mutations on viral protease-mediated Gag processing

The proteolytic processing of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) particles mediated by the viral pol-encoded protease (PR) is essential for viral infectivity. The pol coding sequence partially overlaps with the gag coding sequence and is translated as a Gag-Pol polyprotein precursor. Within Gag-Pol, the C-terminal p6(gag) domain is replaced by a transframe peptide referred to as p6*, which separates the Gag nucleocapsid domain from PR. Several previous in vitro studies have ascribed a PR-suppression regulatory function to p6*. Here, it was demonstrated that an HIV-1 Gag-Pol lacking p6* is efficiently incorporated into virions when coexpressed with HIV-1 Gag precursor. However, the released virions are not processed appropriately and show a greatly reduced viral infectivity. This suggests that the p6* is indispensable during the process of PR-mediated virus particle maturation.

Decreasing the frameshift efficiency translates into an equivalent reduction of the replication of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1

The Gag-Pol polyprotein of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the precursor of the virus enzymatic activities and is produced via a programmed -1 translational frameshift. In this study, we altered the frameshift efficiency by introducing mutations within the slippery sequence and the frameshift stimulatory signal, the two elements that control the frameshift. These mutations decreased the frameshift efficiency to different degrees, ranging from approximately 0.3% to 70% of the wild-type efficiency. These values were mirrored by a reduced incorporation of Gag-Pol into virus-like particles, as assessed by a decrease in the reverse transcriptase activity associated to these particles. Analysis of Gag processing in infectious mutant virions revealed processing defects to various extents, with no clear correlation with frameshift decrease. Nevertheless, the observed frameshift reductions translated into equivalently reduced viral infectivity and replication kinetics. Our results show that even moderate variations in frameshift efficiency, as obtained with mutations in the frameshift stimulatory signal, reduce viral replication. Therapeutic targeting of this structure may therefore result in the attenuation of virus replication and in clinical benefit.