Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Virology, May 2001, p. 4832-4842, Vol. 75, No. 10
ABL Basic Research Program, National Cancer
Institute Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick,
Maryland 21702-1201,1 and Center for
Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Chemistry Department,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-56382
Received 10 November 2000/Accepted 19 February 2001
Two distinct mechanisms can be envisioned for resistance of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (RT) to
nucleoside analogs: one in which the mutations interfere with the
ability of HIV-1 RT to incorporate the analog, and the other in which
the mutations enhance the excision of the analog after it has been
incorporated. It has been clear for some time that there are mutations
that selectively interfere with the incorporation of nucleoside
analogs; however, it has only recently been proposed that zidovudine
(AZT) resistance can involve the excision of the nucleoside analog
after it has been incorporated into viral DNA. Although this proposal
resolves some important issues, it leaves some questions unanswered. In
particular, how do the AZT resistance mutations enhance excision, and
what mechanism(s) causes the excision reaction to be relatively
specific for AZT? We have used both structural and biochemical data to
develop a model. In this model, several of the mutations associated
with AZT resistance act primarily to enhance the binding of ATP, which
is the most likely pyrophosphate donor in the in vivo excision
reaction. The AZT resistance mutations serve to increase the affinity
of RT for ATP so that, at physiological ATP concentrations, excision is
reasonably efficient. So far as we can determine, the specificity of
the excision reaction for an AZT-terminated primer is not due to the
mutations that confer resistance, but depends instead on the structure
of the region around the HIV-1 RT polymerase active site and on its
interactions with the azido group of AZT. Steric constraints involving
the azido group cause the end of an AZT 5'-monophosphate-terminated primer to preferentially reside at the nucleotide binding site, which
favors excision.
0022-538X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.75.10.4832-4842.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Selective Excision of AZTMP by Drug-Resistant Human
Immunodeficiency Virus Reverse Transcriptase
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: HIV Drug
Resistance Program, National Cancer Institute-FCRDC, P.O. Box B,
Building 539, Room 130A, Frederick, MD 21702-1201. Phone: (301)
846-1619. Fax: (301) 846-6966. E-mail: hughes{at}ncifcrf.gov.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | Mol. Cell. Biol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|