title: RNA structure. Structure of the HIV-1 RNA packaging signal.
abstract: The 5' leader of the HIV-1 genome contains conserved elements that direct selective packaging of the unspliced, dimeric viral RNA into assembling particles. By using a (2)H-edited nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approach, we determined the structure of a 155-nucleotide region of the leader that is independently capable of directing packaging (core encapsidation signal; Ψ(CES)). The RNA adopts an unexpected tandem three-way junction structure, in which residues of the major splice donor and translation initiation sites are sequestered by long-range base pairing and guanosines essential for both packaging and high-affinity binding to the cognate Gag protein are exposed in helical junctions. The structure reveals how translation is attenuated, Gag binding promoted, and unspliced dimeric genomes selected, by the RNA conformer that directs packaging.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5620, USA.
authors.forename: Siarhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kharytonchyk
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Venkateswaran
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Azra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosic
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Alyssa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Florwick
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Bolden
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Sayo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCowin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Case
authors.affiliation: One Moon Scientific, Incorporated, 839 Grant Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090, USA, and City University of New York (CUNY) Advanced Science Research Center, 85 St. Nicholas Terrace, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, and Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5620, USA. summers@hhmi.umbc.edu ateles@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Telesnitsky
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. summers@hhmi.umbc.edu ateles@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Summers
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006151:Guanosine / Q000737:chemistry; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010442:Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D019065:Virus Assembly; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D006151:Guanosine