Forward mutation rate of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in a T lymphoid cell line.
An in vivo assay was previously developed for detecting forward mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in a single cycle of replication. This system uses the lacZalpha peptide gene as a reporter for mutations, and allows for the rates and types of mutations that occur to be determined. The forward mutation rate for HIV-1 in HeLa cells was found to be 3 x 10(-5) mutations per target base pair per cycle. To test whether the mutation rate was influenced by cell type, the mutation rate of HIV-1 in CEM-A cells, a T lymphoid cell line, was determined. The mutation rate of HIV-1 reverse transcription in CEM-A cells was found to be 4 x 10(-5) mutations per target base pair per cycle. The number and types of mutations observed were similar to that in HeLa cells. Specifically, base substitution mutations predominated, and G-to-A transition mutations were the most common base substitution. G-to-A hypermutants were also characterized. The difference in HIV-1 mutation rate between HeLa and CEM-A cells was not significant, indicating that the accuracy of HIV-1 reverse transcription is comparable in both the HeLa and CEM-A cell lines.
McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison 53706, USA.
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D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*