A hallmark of retroviruses such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the presence of a single-stranded RNA genome (vRNA), which must be converted into double-stranded DNA before integration into the human genome. The HIV-1 vRNA is a ~9.4 kilobase-long biopolymer that is packaged into virions as a dimer via specific interaction with the virally encoded Gag polyprotein. The vRNA contains coding regions that are translated to protein by the host cellular translational machinery and regulatory regions that control vRNA transcription, nuclear export, translation, and packaging. The highly structured 5� untranslated region (5� UTR) of the vRNA is especially rich in protein binding and regulatory functions and is hypothesized to undergo conformational changes that help regulate the switch from translation to packaging. In this work, we examine specific host and viral factor binding to the elements in the 5� UTR and use small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to determine the vRNA global fold both in the absence and presence of binding partners.

Functional Interactions and SAXS analyses of RNAs derived from the HIV-1 genome

245th National Meeting (2013)

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