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The C-terminal p6 domain of the HIV-1 Pr55Gag precursor is required for specific binding to the genomic RNA.
- Source :
- RNA Biology; 2018, Vol. 15 Issue 7, p923-936, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- The Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> precursor specifically selects the HIV-1 genomic RNA (gRNA) from a large excess of cellular and partially or fully spliced viral RNAs and drives the virus assembly at the plasma membrane. During these processes, the NC domain of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> interacts with the gRNA, while its C-terminal p6 domain binds cellular and viral factors and orchestrates viral particle release. Gag∆p6 is a truncated form of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> lacking the p6 domain usually used as a default surrogate for wild type Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> for in vitro analysis. With recent advance in production of full-length recombinant Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript>, here, we tested whether the p6 domain also contributes to the RNA binding specificity of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> by systematically comparing binding of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> and Gag∆p6 to a panel of viral and cellular RNAs. Unexpectedly, our fluorescence data reveal that the p6 domain is absolutely required for specific binding of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> to the HIV-1 gRNA. Its deletion resulted not only in a decreased affinity for gRNA, but also in an increased affinity for spliced viral and cellular RNAs. In contrast Gag∆p6 displayed a similar affinity for all tested RNAs. Removal of the C-terminal His-tag from Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript> and Gag∆p6 uniformly increased the Kd values of the RNA-protein complexes by ~ 2.5 fold but did not affect the binding specificities of these proteins. Altogether, our results demonstrate a novel role of the p6 domain in the specificity of Pr55<superscript>Gag</superscript>-RNA interactions, and strongly suggest that the p6 domain contributes to the discrimination of HIV-1 gRNA from cellular and spliced viral mRNAs, which is necessary for its selective encapsidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15476286
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- RNA Biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 132000345
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2018.1481696