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J. Virol., 08 1997, 6225-6229, Vol 71, No. 8
S Carteau, SC Batson, L Poljak, JF Mouscadet, H de Rocquigny, JL Darlix, BP Roques, E Kas and C Auclair
The integrase (IN) protein of the human immunodeficiency virus mediates
integration of the viral DNA into the cellular genome. In vitro, this
reaction can be mimicked by using purified recombinant IN and model DNA
substrates. IN mediates two reactions: an endonucleolytic cleavage at each
3' end of the proviral DNA (terminal cleavage) and the joining of the
linear viral DNA to 5' phosphates in the target DNA (strand transfer).
Previous investigators have shown that purified IN requires Mn2+ or Mg2+ to
promote strand transfer in vitro, although Mg2+ is the likely metal
cofactor in vivo. IN activity in the presence of Mg2+ in vitro requires
high IN concentrations and low concentrations of salt. Here, we show that
the viral nucleocapsid protein NCp7 allows efficient IN-mediated strand
transfer in the presence of Mg2+ at low enzyme concentrations. This
potentiating effect appears to be unique to NCp7, as other small
DNA-binding proteins, while capable of stimulating integration in the
presence of Mn2+, all failed to stimulate strand transfer in the presence
of Mg2+.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid protein specifically stimulates Mg2+-dependent DNA integration in vitro
Laboratoire de Physicochimie et Pharmacologie des Macromolecules Biologiques, CNRS URA 147, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
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