title: Stereospecificity of short Rev-derived peptide interactions with RRE IIB RNA.
abstract: The essential HIV-1 regulatory protein Rev binds to the Rev responsive element (RRE) of the HIV-1 mRNA. A short alpha-helical peptide derived from Rev (Rev 34-50) and a truncated form of the RRE sequence (RRE IIB) provide a useful in vitro system to study the interactions between Rev and RRE. The current studies focus on evaluating the specificity of the binding interactions between Rev 34-50 and RRE IIB. The binding of L- and D-Rev peptides to natural and enantiomeric RRE IIB RNA was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. D-Rev and L-Rev peptides bind to RRE IIB with similar affinities. CD measurements are consistent with a nonhelical, probably beta-hairpin, conformation for D-Rev in the complex. The binding affinities of D/L Rev peptides to L-RRE IIB RNA are also similar to those with natural D-RRE IIB. Furthermore, the conformations of L- and D-peptides when bound to L-RRE are reciprocal to the conformations of these peptides in complex with D-RRE. RNA footprinting studies show that L- and D-Rev peptides bind to the same site on RRE IIB. Our results demonstrate lack of stereospecificity in RRE RNA-Rev peptide interactions. However, it is quite possible that the interactions between full-length Rev protein and RRE are highly specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Litovchick
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Rando
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D015694:Gene Products, rev / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D054321:rev Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D015694:Gene Products, rev; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D054321:rev Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus