NMR Detection of Structures in the HIV-1 5'-Leader RNA That Regulate Genome Packaging
The 5′-leader of the HIV-1 genome regulates multiple functions during viral replication via mechanisms that have yet to be established. We developed a nuclear magnetic resonance approach that enabled direct detection of structural elements within the intact leader (712-nucleotide dimer) that are cri...
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Published in | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 334; no. 6053; pp. 242 - 245 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington, DC
American Association for the Advancement of Science
14.10.2011
The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The 5′-leader of the HIV-1 genome regulates multiple functions during viral replication via mechanisms that have yet to be established. We developed a nuclear magnetic resonance approach that enabled direct detection of structural elements within the intact leader (712-nucleotide dimer) that are critical for genome packaging. Residues spanning the gag start codon (AUG) form a hairpin in the monomeric leader and base pair with residues of the unique-5′ region (U5) in the dimer. U5:AUG formation promotes dimerization by displacing and exposing a dimer-promoting hairpin and enhances binding by the nucleocapsid (NC) protein, which is the cognate domain of the viral Gag polyprotein that directs packaging. Our findings support a packaging mechanism in which translation, dimerization, NC binding, and packaging are regulated by a common RNA structural switch. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1 Current address: The RNA Institute, State University of New York at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222 These authors contributed significantly to this work. |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.1210460 |