Division of labor within human immunodeficiency virus integrase complexes: determinants of catalysis and target DNA capture.

ABSTRACT: Following the completion of reverse transcription, the human immunodeficiency virus integrase (IN) enzyme covalently links the viral cDNA to a host cell chromosome. An IN multimer carries out this reaction, but the roles of individual monomers within the complex are mostly unknown. Here we analyzed the distribution of functions for target DNA capture and catalysis within the IN multimer. We used forced complementation between pairs of IN deletion derivatives in vitro as a tool for probing cis-trans relationships and analyzed amino acid substitutions affecting either catalysis or target site selection within these complementing complexes. This allowed the demonstration that the IN variant contributing the active catalytic domain was also responsible for recognition of the integration target

SUBMITTER: Diamond TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1316026 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature