Skip to main content
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1992 Jun;66(6):3593–3601. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.6.3593-3601.1992

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integration protein: DNA sequence requirements for cleaving and joining reactions.

P A Sherman 1, M L Dickson 1, J A Fyfe 1
PMCID: PMC241141  PMID: 1374809

Abstract

Using purified integration protein (IN) from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 and oligonucleotide mimics of viral and target DNA, we have investigated the DNA sequence specificity of the cleaving and joining reactions that take place during retroviral integration. The first reaction in this process is selective endonucleolytic cleaving of the viral DNA terminus that generates a recessed 3' OH group. This 3' OH group is then joined to a 5' phosphoryl group located at a break in the target DNA. We found that the conserved CA located close to the 3' end of the plus strand of the U5 viral terminus (also present on the minus strand of the U3 terminus) was required for both cleaving and joining reactions. Six bases of HIV U5 or U3 DNA at the ends of model substrates were sufficient for nearly maximal levels of selective endonucleolytic cleaving and joining. However, viral sequence elements upstream of the terminal 6 bases could also affect the efficiencies of the cleaving and joining reactions. The penultimate base (C) on the minus strand of HIV U5 was required for optimal joining activity. A synthetic oligonucleotide mimic of the putative in vivo viral "DNA" substrate for HIV IN, a molecule that contained a terminal adenosine 5'-phosphate (rA) on the minus strand, was indistinguishable in the cleaving and joining reactions from the DNA substrate containing deoxyadenosine instead of adenosine 5'-phosphate at the terminal position. Single-stranded DNA served as an in vitro integration target for HIV IN. The DNA sequence specificity of the joining reaction catalyzed in the reverse direction was also investigated.

Full text

PDF
3594

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brown P. O., Bowerman B., Varmus H. E., Bishop J. M. Retroviral integration: structure of the initial covalent product and its precursor, and a role for the viral IN protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Apr;86(8):2525–2529. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.8.2525. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buchow H. D., Tschachler E., Gallo R. C., Reitz M., Jr HIV-I replication requires an intact integrase reading frame. Haematol Blood Transfus. 1989;32:402–405. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-74621-5_68. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bushman F. D., Craigie R. Activities of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) integration protein in vitro: specific cleavage and integration of HIV DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Feb 15;88(4):1339–1343. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.4.1339. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bushman F. D., Craigie R. Sequence requirements for integration of Moloney murine leukemia virus DNA in vitro. J Virol. 1990 Nov;64(11):5645–5648. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.11.5645-5648.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bushman F. D., Fujiwara T., Craigie R. Retroviral DNA integration directed by HIV integration protein in vitro. Science. 1990 Sep 28;249(4976):1555–1558. doi: 10.1126/science.2171144. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Clavel F., Hoggan M. D., Willey R. L., Strebel K., Martin M. A., Repaske R. Genetic recombination of human immunodeficiency virus. J Virol. 1989 Mar;63(3):1455–1459. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.3.1455-1459.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Colicelli J., Goff S. P. Mutants and pseudorevertants of Moloney murine leukemia virus with alterations at the integration site. Cell. 1985 Sep;42(2):573–580. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90114-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Colicelli J., Goff S. P. Sequence and spacing requirements of a retrovirus integration site. J Mol Biol. 1988 Jan 5;199(1):47–59. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(88)90378-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Craigie R., Fujiwara T., Bushman F. The IN protein of Moloney murine leukemia virus processes the viral DNA ends and accomplishes their integration in vitro. Cell. 1990 Aug 24;62(4):829–837. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90126-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Craigie R., Mizuuchi K., Bushman F. D., Engelman A. A rapid in vitro assay for HIV DNA integration. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 May 25;19(10):2729–2734. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.10.2729. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Engelman A., Mizuuchi K., Craigie R. HIV-1 DNA integration: mechanism of viral DNA cleavage and DNA strand transfer. Cell. 1991 Dec 20;67(6):1211–1221. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90297-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Farnet C. M., Haseltine W. A. Determination of viral proteins present in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 preintegration complex. J Virol. 1991 Apr;65(4):1910–1915. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.4.1910-1915.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Farnet C. M., Haseltine W. A. Integration of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jun;87(11):4164–4168. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.11.4164. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Fujiwara T., Craigie R. Integration of mini-retroviral DNA: a cell-free reaction for biochemical analysis of retroviral integration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 May;86(9):3065–3069. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.9.3065. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Fujiwara T., Mizuuchi K. Retroviral DNA integration: structure of an integration intermediate. Cell. 1988 Aug 12;54(4):497–504. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90071-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Furfine E. S., Reardon J. E. Human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase ribonuclease H: specificity of tRNA(Lys3)-primer excision. Biochemistry. 1991 Jul 23;30(29):7041–7046. doi: 10.1021/bi00243a001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Katz R. A., Merkel G., Kulkosky J., Leis J., Skalka A. M. The avian retroviral IN protein is both necessary and sufficient for integrative recombination in vitro. Cell. 1990 Oct 5;63(1):87–95. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90290-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Katzman M., Katz R. A., Skalka A. M., Leis J. The avian retroviral integration protein cleaves the terminal sequences of linear viral DNA at the in vivo sites of integration. J Virol. 1989 Dec;63(12):5319–5327. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.12.5319-5327.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Katzman M., Mack J. P., Skalka A. M., Leis J. A covalent complex between retroviral integrase and nicked substrate DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 1;88(11):4695–4699. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.11.4695. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kulkosky J., Katz R. A., Skalka A. M. Terminal nucleotides of the preintegrative linear form of HIV-1 DNA deduced from the sequence of circular DNA junctions. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1990;3(9):852–858. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. LaFemina R. L., Callahan P. L., Cordingley M. G. Substrate specificity of recombinant human immunodeficiency virus integrase protein. J Virol. 1991 Oct;65(10):5624–5630. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.10.5624-5630.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Pauza C. D. Two bases are deleted from the termini of HIV-1 linear DNA during integrative recombination. Virology. 1990 Dec;179(2):886–889. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(90)90161-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Roth M. J., Schwartzberg P. L., Goff S. P. Structure of the termini of DNA intermediates in the integration of retroviral DNA: dependence on IN function and terminal DNA sequence. Cell. 1989 Jul 14;58(1):47–54. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90401-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sherman P. A., Fyfe J. A. Human immunodeficiency virus integration protein expressed in Escherichia coli possesses selective DNA cleaving activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jul;87(13):5119–5123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.13.5119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Smith J. S., Kim S. Y., Roth M. J. Analysis of long terminal repeat circle junctions of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. J Virol. 1990 Dec;64(12):6286–6290. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.12.6286-6290.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Stevenson M., Stanwick T. L., Dempsey M. P., Lamonica C. A. HIV-1 replication is controlled at the level of T cell activation and proviral integration. EMBO J. 1990 May;9(5):1551–1560. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08274.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Vink C., van Gent D. C., Elgersma Y., Plasterk R. H. Human immunodeficiency virus integrase protein requires a subterminal position of its viral DNA recognition sequence for efficient cleavage. J Virol. 1991 Sep;65(9):4636–4644. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.9.4636-4644.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Whitcomb J. M., Kumar R., Hughes S. H. Sequence of the circle junction of human immunodeficiency virus type 1: implications for reverse transcription and integration. J Virol. 1990 Oct;64(10):4903–4906. doi: 10.1128/jvi.64.10.4903-4906.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Virology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES