Role of stem B, loop B, and nucleotides next to the primer binding site and the kissing-loop domain in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication and genomic-RNA dimerization.
Stem-loop B is a 12-nucleotide [nt]-long completely conserved sequence postulated to form a 4-bp stem and a 4-nt internal loop under the kissing-loop hairpin (klh) (nt 248 to 270) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genomic RNA. We investigated its role in viral replication, genomic RNA dimerization, and dimerization of partial HIV-1 RNA transcripts. The putative CUCG246-CGAG277 duplex was replaced by nine alternative complementary sequences, five likely to base pair only in short RNAs and four likely to base pair in long (approximately 500-nt) RNAs, as assessed by the algorithm mfold. Among the five former sequences, none preserved genome dimerization and all reduced viral replication by 98 to 99.9%. Among the four latter sequences, three (MB6, -9, and -10) preserved genome dimerization, one (MB7) did not significantly inhibit it, and two (MB9 and -10) preserved viral replication. We conclude that duplex formation by stem B nucleotides is necessary for viral infectivity and complete genome dimerization. Deleting the 5' or 3' side of loop B or of stem B had little impact on dimerization of partial RNA transcript and no impact on klh folding (and, for loop B mutations, on stem B folding), but each deletion inhibited genome dimerization almost as much as klh destruction. This suggests that loop B is required for complete genome dimerization and that loop B and stem B stimulate dimerization only in very long RNAs and/or in the presence of unidentified viral and cellular factors. Finally, we asked if nine deletions or nucleotide substitutions within nt 200 to 242 and/or nt 282 to 335 could influence genome dimerization. These mutations had intermediate inhibitory impacts consistent with their predicted influence on stem B, loop B, and klh formation. Two exceptions were Delta200-226 and Delta236-242 genomic RNAs, which dimerized relatively poorly despite having neutral or positive influences on stem B, loop B, and klh folding.
Shen
N
N
McGill AIDS Centre, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Jetté
L
L
Wainberg
M A
MA
Laughrea
M
M
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D019556:COS Cells; D019281:Dimerization; D016679:Genome, Viral; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*; D019065:Virus Assembly; D014779:Virus Replication
D012367:RNA, Viral