title: Structure of the dimer initiation complex of HIV-1 genomic RNA.
abstract: Retroviral genomes must dimerize to be fully infectious. Dimerization is directed by a unique RNA hairpin structure with a palindrome in its loop: hairpins of two strands first associate transiently through their loops, and then refold to a more stable, linear duplex. The structure of the initial, kissing-loop dimer from HIV-1, solved using 2D NMR, is bent and metastable, its interface being formed not only by standard basepairing between palindromes, but also by a distinctive pattern of interstrand stacking among bases at the stem-loop junctions. This creates mechanical distortions that partially melt both stems, which may facilitate spontaneous refolding of this RNA complex into linear form.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of California at San Francisco, 94143, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mujeeb
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Clever
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Billeci
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Parslow
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D019281:Dimerization; D016679:Genome, Viral; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral