Human RPL7 and DDX21 interact with HTLV-1 Gag and enhance tRNA^Pro primer annealing to genomic RNA.

ABSTRACT: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), an oncogenic retrovirus, uses human tRNA^Pro to prime reverse transcription (RT). However, how tRNA^Pro is annealed to the primer binding site (PBS), which is embedded in a highly structured hairpin in the genomic RNA (gRNA), remains unclear. We hypothesize that HTLV-1 Gag may have more robust chaperone activity than mature HTLV-1 nucleocapsid (NC), which in contrast to HIV-1 NC, displays relatively weak chaperone function, and that a cellular co-factor may be required to facilitate primer tRNA annealing. Recombinant HTLV-1 Gag was successfully purified for the first time and used to perform primer-annealing assays. Relative to mature NC and matrix (MA) domains, HTLV-1 Gag is only slightly more effective at chaperoning the an

SUBMITTER: Syu YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12338668 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature