title: Phenotypic characterization of insertion mutants of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag precursor expressed in recombinant baculovirus-infected cells.
abstract: A panel of 28 insertion mutants of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag precursor (Pr55Gag) was constructed by linker-insertion mutagenesis and expressed in recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells. One set of 14 mutants carried the normal N-myristylation signal; the other set constituted their non-N-myristylated counterparts. The mutants were characterized with respect to (i) assembly and extracellular release of membrane-enveloped budding Gag particles, (ii) intracellular assembly and nuclear transport of Gag cores, (iii) specific processing of Pr55Gag by HIV-1 protease in vivo, and (iv) binding of Pr55Gag to an HIV-1 genomic RNA probe in Northwestern blotting. Insertions within the region between amino acid residues 209 and 334 in the CA domain appeared to be the most detrimental to Gag particle assembly and release of Gag into the external medium, whereas a narrower window, between residues 209 and 241, was found to be critical for secretion of soluble Pr55Gag. Differences in Pr55Gag processing in vivo and RNA binding in vitro between N-myristylated and non-N-myristylated Gag mutants suggested a major conformational role for the myristylated N terminus of Gag precursor. In coinfection experiments using wild-type Gag- and mutant Gag-expressing recombinants, a transdominant negative effect on Gag particle assembly and release was observed for insertions located in two separate domains, the matrix and nucleocapsid.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Virologie and Pathogénèse Moléculaires (CNRS URA 1487), Faculté de Médecine, Institut de Biologie, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chazal
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carrière
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boulanger
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000166:cytology; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D019814:Myristic Acid; D009227:Myristic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D017924:Nucleopolyhedroviruses / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009227:Myristic Acids; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012367:RNA, Viral; C059767:p55 gag precursor protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D019814:Myristic Acid