title: Inhibition of HIV-1 replication by anti-trans-activation responsive polyamide nucleotide analog.
abstract: Efficient replication and gene expression of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) involves specific interaction of the viral protein Tat, with its trans-activation responsive element (TAR) which forms a highly stable stem-loop structure. We have earlier shown that a 15-mer polyamide nucleotide analog (PNA) targeted to the loop and bulge region of TAR blocks Tat-mediated transactivation of the HIV-1 LTR both in vitro and in cell culture (Mayhood et al., Biochemistry 39 (2000) 11532). In this communication, we have designed four anti-TAR PNAs of different length such that they either complement the entire loop and bulge region (PNA(TAR-16) and PNA(TAR-15)) or are short of few sequences in the loop (PNA(TAR-13)) or in both the loop and bulge (PNA(TAR-12)), and examined their functional efficacy in vitro as well as in HIV-1 infected cell cultures. All four anti-TAR PNAs showed strong affinity for TAR RNA, while their ability to block in vitro reverse transcription was influenced by their length. In marked contrast to PNA(TAR-12) and PNA(TAR-13), the two longer PNA(TARs) were able to efficiently sequester the targeted site on TAR RNA, thereby substantially inhibiting Tat-mediated transactivation of the HIV-1 LTR. Further, a substantial inhibition of virus production was noted with all the four anti-TAR PNA, with PNA(TAR-16) exhibiting a dramatic reduction of HIV-1 production by nearly 99%. These results point to PNA(TAR-16) as a potential anti-HIV agent.
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000378:metabolism*; D016325:HIV Long Terminal Repeat / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015696:Gene Products, tat; D020135:Peptide Nucleic Acids; D012367:RNA, Viral; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus