title: Single-molecule spectroscopic study of dynamic nanoscale DNA bending behavior of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein.
abstract: We have studied the conformational dynamics associated with the nanoscale DNA bending induced by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid (NC) protein using single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (SM-FRET). To gain molecular-level insights into how the HIV-1 NC locally distorts the structures of duplexed DNA segments, the dynamics, reversibility, and sequence specificity of the DNA bending behavior of NC have been systematically studied. We have performed SM-FRET measurements on a series of duplexed DNA segments with varying sequences, lengths, and local structures in the presence of the wide-type HIV-1 NC and NC mutants lacking either the basic N-terminal domain or the zinc fingers. On the basis of the SM-FRET results, we have proposed a possible mechanism for the NC-induced DNA bending in which both NC's zinc fingers and N-terminal domain are found to play crucial roles. The SM-FRET results reported here add new mechanistic insights into the biological behaviors and functions of HIV-1 NC as a retroviral DNA-architectural protein which may play critical roles in the compaction, nuclear import, and integration of the proviral DNA during the retroviral life cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA. wang344@mailbox.sc.edu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Musier-Forsyth
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Barbara
mesh_terms: D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins