Potent Inhibition of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase and Replication by Nonpseudoknot, "UCAA-motif" RNA Aptamers.

ABSTRACT: RNA aptamers that bind the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compete with nucleic acid primer/template for access to RT, inhibit RT enzymatic activity in vitro, and suppress viral replication when expressed in human cells. Numerous pseudoknot aptamers have been identified by sequence analysis, but relatively few have been confirmed experimentally. In this work, a screen of nearly 100 full-length and >60 truncated aptamer transcripts established the predictive value of the F1Pk and F2Pk pseudoknot signature motifs. The screen also identified a new, nonpseudoknot motif with a conserved unpaired UCAA element. High-throughput sequence (HTS) analysis identified 181 clusters capable of forming this novel element. Comparative sequence analysis, enzymatic probing and

SUBMITTER: Whatley AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3586799 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature