Nucleic Acids Research, Vol 25, Issue 9 1709-1714, Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
M Bottcher and F Grosse
The reading frame of the HIV-1 pol gene, encoding protease (PR) and reverse
transcriptase (RT), including RNase H as well as integrase, was fused to
the bacterialbeta-galactosidase gene and overexpressed in Escherichia coli
cells. The resulting fusion protein was cleaved autocatalytically leading
to PR, RT and integrase. Immunoprecipitations of bacterial crude extracts
with anti-RT antibodies precipitated both RT and PR. Co-precipitation of PR
and RT was also observed with anti-PR antibodies, strongly suggesting a
physical interaction between fully processed RT and PR within the bacterial
cell. Physical interactions were confirmed with purified components by
means of an ELISA assay. Furthermore, purified PR inhibited the DNA
synthesis activity of purified RT, while its RNase H activity remained
unaffected. The type of inhibition was uncompetitive with respect to
poly(rA).oligo(dT); the inhibition constant was 50-100 nM. A possible
physiological significance of this type of interaction is discussed.
ARTICLES
HIV-1 protease inhibits its homologous reverse transcriptase by protein- protein interaction
Institut fur Molekulare Biotechnologie, Abteilung Biochemie, Postfach 100 813, D-07708 Jena, Germany.
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