A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.

Reverse transcriptase (RT) plays an essential role in HIV-1 replication, and inhibition of this enzyme is a key component of HIV-treatment. However, the use of RT inhibitors can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant variants. Until recently, most clinically relevant resistance mutations were found...

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Main Authors: David W Wright, Ilona P Deuzing, Philippe Flandre, Peter van den Eede, Micheline Govaert, Laurentia Setiawan, Peter V Coveney, Anne-Geneviève Marcelin, Vincent Calvez, Charles A B Boucher, Nancy Beerens
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074078
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author David W Wright
Ilona P Deuzing
Philippe Flandre
Peter van den Eede
Micheline Govaert
Laurentia Setiawan
Peter V Coveney
Anne-Geneviève Marcelin
Vincent Calvez
Charles A B Boucher
Nancy Beerens
author_facet David W Wright
Ilona P Deuzing
Philippe Flandre
Peter van den Eede
Micheline Govaert
Laurentia Setiawan
Peter V Coveney
Anne-Geneviève Marcelin
Vincent Calvez
Charles A B Boucher
Nancy Beerens
author_sort David W Wright
collection DOAJ
description Reverse transcriptase (RT) plays an essential role in HIV-1 replication, and inhibition of this enzyme is a key component of HIV-treatment. However, the use of RT inhibitors can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant variants. Until recently, most clinically relevant resistance mutations were found in the polymerase domain of RT. Lately, an increasing number of resistance mutations has been identified in the connection and RNaseH domain. To further explore the role of these domains we analyzed the complete RT sequence of HIV-1 subtype B patients failing therapy. Position A/T400 in the connection subdomain is polymorphic, but the proportion of T400 increases from 41% in naïve patients to 72% in patients failing therapy. Previous studies suggested a role for threonine in conferring resistance to nucleoside RT inhibitors. Here we report that T400 also mediates resistance to non-nucleoside RT inhibitors. The susceptibility to NVP and EFV was reduced 5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, in the wild-type subtype B NL4.3 background. We show that substitution A400T reduces the RNaseH activity. The changes in enzyme activity are remarkable given the distance to both the polymerase and RNaseH active sites. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed, which provide a novel atomistic mechanism for the reduction in RNaseH activity induced by T400. Substitution A400T was found to change the conformation of the RNaseH primer grip region. Formation of an additional hydrogen bond between residue T400 and E396 may play a role in this structural change. The slower degradation of the viral RNA genome may provide more time for dissociation of the bound NNRTI from the stalled RT-template/primer complex, after which reverse transcription can resume.
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spelling doaj-art-86a74e3780bc431f88da87b542faedce2025-08-20T02:22:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-01810e7407810.1371/journal.pone.0074078A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.David W WrightIlona P DeuzingPhilippe FlandrePeter van den EedeMicheline GovaertLaurentia SetiawanPeter V CoveneyAnne-Geneviève MarcelinVincent CalvezCharles A B BoucherNancy BeerensReverse transcriptase (RT) plays an essential role in HIV-1 replication, and inhibition of this enzyme is a key component of HIV-treatment. However, the use of RT inhibitors can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant variants. Until recently, most clinically relevant resistance mutations were found in the polymerase domain of RT. Lately, an increasing number of resistance mutations has been identified in the connection and RNaseH domain. To further explore the role of these domains we analyzed the complete RT sequence of HIV-1 subtype B patients failing therapy. Position A/T400 in the connection subdomain is polymorphic, but the proportion of T400 increases from 41% in naïve patients to 72% in patients failing therapy. Previous studies suggested a role for threonine in conferring resistance to nucleoside RT inhibitors. Here we report that T400 also mediates resistance to non-nucleoside RT inhibitors. The susceptibility to NVP and EFV was reduced 5-fold and 2-fold, respectively, in the wild-type subtype B NL4.3 background. We show that substitution A400T reduces the RNaseH activity. The changes in enzyme activity are remarkable given the distance to both the polymerase and RNaseH active sites. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed, which provide a novel atomistic mechanism for the reduction in RNaseH activity induced by T400. Substitution A400T was found to change the conformation of the RNaseH primer grip region. Formation of an additional hydrogen bond between residue T400 and E396 may play a role in this structural change. The slower degradation of the viral RNA genome may provide more time for dissociation of the bound NNRTI from the stalled RT-template/primer complex, after which reverse transcription can resume.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074078
spellingShingle David W Wright
Ilona P Deuzing
Philippe Flandre
Peter van den Eede
Micheline Govaert
Laurentia Setiawan
Peter V Coveney
Anne-Geneviève Marcelin
Vincent Calvez
Charles A B Boucher
Nancy Beerens
A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
PLoS ONE
title A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
title_full A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
title_fullStr A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
title_full_unstemmed A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
title_short A polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to NNRTIs and RNaseH activity.
title_sort polymorphism at position 400 in the connection subdomain of hiv 1 reverse transcriptase affects sensitivity to nnrtis and rnaseh activity
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074078
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