title: Initiation of HIV reverse transcription: is enzyme flipping required?
abstract: Liu and colleagues have recently studied dynamic changes in the orientation of HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) on its nucleic acid substrate during initiation of DNA synthesis. The authors employed a single molecule FRET assay and revealed the existence of an equilibrium between polymerase-competent and "flipped" polymerase-incompetent orientations. RT flipping correlates with enzyme pausing during initiation, while the transition to the processive elongation phase correlates with increases in the population of polymerase-competent complexes. The potential biological significance of these findings is discussed in this commentary in lieu of the entire process of reverse transcription.
authors: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Duff Medical Building (D-6), 3775 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada.|Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6, Canada.
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Götte
mesh_terms: D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D006678:HIV / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D048348:Reverse Transcription
chemical_list: D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase