Linked Life Data

9308371

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9308371

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-10-23
pubmed:abstractText
Conversion of the single-stranded RNA of an invading retrovirus into double-stranded proviral DNA is catalyzed in a multi-step process by a single virus-coded enzyme, reverse transcriptase (RT). Achieving this requires a combination of DNA polymerase abd ribonuclease H (RNase H) activities, which are located at the amino and carboxy terminus of the enzyme, respectively. Moreover, proviral DNA synthesis requires that three structurally-distinct nucleic acid duplexes are accommodated by this enzyme, namely (a) A-form RNA (initiation of minus strand synthesis), non-A, non-B RNA/DNA hybrid (minus strand synthesis and initiation of plus strand synthesis) and B-form duplex DNA (plus strand synthesis). This review summarizes our current understanding of the manner in which retroviral RT interacts with this diverse array of nucleic acid duplexes, exploiting in many cases mutants unable to catalyze a specific event. These studies illustrate that seemingly 'simple' events such as tRNA-primed initiation of minus strand synthesis are considerably more complex, involving intermolecular tRNA-viral RNA interactions outside the primer binding site. Moreover, RNase H activity, generally thought to catalyze non-specific degradation of the RNA-DNA replicative intermediate, is required for highly specialized events including DNA strand transfer and polypurine selection. Finally, a unique structure near the center of HIV proviral DNA, the central termination sequence, serves to halt the replication machinery in a manner analogous to termination of transcription. As these highly specialized events are better understood at the molecular level, they may open new avenues of therapeutic intervention in the continuing effort to stem the progression of HIV infection and AIDS.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0079-6603
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
58
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
339-93
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
Interaction of retroviral reverse transcriptase with template-primer duplexes during replication.
pubmed:affiliation
Center for AIDS Research and Division of Infectious Diseases, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4984, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't