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Mutations in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 polypurine tract (PPT) reduce the rate of PPT cleavage and plus-strand DNA synthesis.

McWilliams MJ, Julias JG, Hughes SH

HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA.

Previously, we analyzed the effects of point mutations in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) polypurine tract (PPT) and found that some mutations affected both titer and cleavage specificity. We used HIV-1 vectors containing two PPTs and the D116N integrase active-site mutation in a cell-based assay to measure differences in the relative rates of PPT processing and utilization. The relative rates were measured by determining which of the two PPTs in the vector is used to synthesize viral DNA. The results indicate that mutations that have subtle effects on titer and cleavage specificity can have dramatic effects on rates of PPT generation and utilization.

Published 25 April 2008 in J Virol, 82(10): 5104-8.
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