Replication kinetics of mutant HIV-2 viruses. (A) A schematic of the five HIV-2 genomic RNAs produced in this study. The CLS-119 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a mutated G-box. The CLS-120 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a wild-type G-box. The CLS-121 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a wild-type G-box. The CLS-005 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a mutated G-box. The mutations are in bold lowercase letters. (B) Replication kinetics of wild-type, CLS-119, CLS-120, CLS-121, and CLS-005 viruses in C8166 cells. Equal amounts of viral particles (10 ng of p27 capsid, as determined by ELISA) produced during COS-7 transfection were used to infect C8166 cells. Viral replication was measured using p27 capsid quantification. The bars indicate standard error for two experiments. (C,D) Mutant HIV-2 viruses harboring G-box mutations display attenuated replication. (C) A schematic of the four HIV-2 genomic RNAs produced in this study. The C-box119 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a wild-type G-box. The G-box119 RNA contains a wild-type C-box and a mutated G-box. The CLS-119 RNA contains a mutated C-box and a mutated G-box. The mutations are in bold lowercase letters. (D) Replication kinetics of wild-type, C-box119, G-box119, and CLS-119 viruses in C8166 cells. Equal amounts of viral particles (10 ng of p27 capsid, as determined by ELISA), produced during COS-7 transfection were used to infect C8166 cells. Viral replication was measured using p27 capsid quantification. The y-axis error bars indicate standard error for the two experiments.