No abstract

N-terminal acetylation is one of the most common modifications, occurring on the vast majority of eukaryotic proteins. Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains three major NATs, designated NatA, NatB, and NatC, with each having catalytic subunits Ard1p, Nat3p, and Mak3p, respectively. Gautschi et al. (Gautschi et al. [2003] Mol Cell Biol 23: 7403) previously demonstrated with peptide crosslinking experiments that NatA is bound to ribosomes. In our studies, biochemical fractionation in linear sucrose density gradients revealed that all of the NATs are associated with mono- and polyribosome fractions. However only a minor portion of Nat3p colocalized with the polyribosomes. Disruption of the polyribosomes did not cause dissociation of the NATs from ribosomal subparticles. The NAT auxiliary subunits, Nat1p and Mdm20p, apparently are required for efficient binding of the corresponding catalytic subunits to the ribosomes. Deletions of the genes corresponding to auxiliary subunits significantly diminish the protein levels of the catalytic subunits, especially Nat3p, while deletions of the catalytic subunits produced less effect on the stability of Nat1p and Mdm20p. Also two ribosomal proteins, Rpl25p and Rpl35p, were identified in a TAP-affinity purified NatA sample. Moreover, Ard1p copurifies with Rpl35p-TAP. We suggest that these two ribosomal proteins, which are in close proximity to the ribosomal exit tunnel, may play a role in NatA attachment to the ribosome.

Strand transfer drives recombination between the co-packaged genomes of HIV-1, a process that allows rapid viral evolution. The proposed invasion-mediated mechanism of strand transfer during HIV-1 reverse transcription has three steps: invasion of the initial or donor primer-template by the second or acceptor template, propagation of the primer-acceptor hybrid, and then primer terminus transfer. Invasion occurs at a site at which the RT RNase has created a nick or short gap in the donor template. We used biochemical reconstitution to determine the distance over which a single invasion site can promote transfer. The DNA-primed RNA donor template used had a single stranded precreated invasion site (PCIS). Results showed that the PCIS could influence transfer twenty or more nucleotides in the direction of synthesis. This influence was augmented by viral nucleocapsid protein (NC) and additional reverse transcriptase (RT) ribonuclease H (RNase H) cleavage. Strand exchange assays were performed specifically to assess the distance over which a hybrid interaction initiated at the PCIS could propagate to achieve transfer. Propagation by simple branch migration of strands was limited to 24 – 32 nucleotides. Additional RNase H cuts in the donor RNA allowed propagation to a maximum distance of 32 – 64 nucleotides. Overall, results indicate that a specific invasion site has a limited range of influence on strand transfer. Evidently, a series of invasion sites cannot collaborate over a long distance to promote transfer. This result explains why the frequency of recombination events does not increase with increasing distance from the start of synthesis, a characteristic that supports effective mixing of viral mutations.

Ribavirin has a minor and transient effect on hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication and has been suggested to select a novel mutation, F415Y, in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of subtype 1a viruses. Twenty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis C (subtyped by INNO LiPA as 1a, 17; 1b, 11; 1a/1b, 1) who were nonresponders to interferon-based therapies were identified retrospectively and screened at Baseline, week 24 of treatment, and 24 weeks post-treatment. Selection of resistance mutations, including at amino acid position 415 of the polymerase, was investigated. Using clonal sequencing and pyrosequencing of the NS5B gene, we screened for the F415Y resistance mutation among patients who received combination therapy with ribavirin and interferon α. Of the 15 subtype 1a patients treated with interferon plus ribavirin, only one had the F415Y change at week 24, and an F/Y mixture was still present 24 weeks after therapy. Four additional patients in this group had the F415Y change 24 weeks post-therapy. The NS5B genes were sequenced in order to identify amino acid changes associated with ribavirin therapy, but no evidence was found that ribavirin selects for particular amino acids in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Ribavirin, a weak inhibitor of HCV replication, does not select for resistance mutations in the sequence of the HCV RNA polymerase.

Summary HIV-1 employs strand transfer for recombination between the two viral genomes. We previously provided evidence that strand transfer proceeds by an invasion-mediated mechanism, in which a DNA segment on the original RNA template is invaded by a second RNA template at a gap site. The initial RNA-DNA hybrid then expands until the DNA is fully transferred. Ribonuclease H (RNase H) cleavages and nucleocapsid protein (NC) were required for long distance propagation of the hybrid. The evaluation was performed on a unique substrate with a short gap serving as a pre-created invasion site (PCIS). In our current work, this substrate provided the opportunity to test what factors influence a specific invasion site to support transfer, and distinguish factors that influence invasion site creation from those that impact later steps. RNase H can act in a polymerization-dependent or -independent mode. Polymerization-dependent and -independent RNase H were found to be important to create efficiently-used invasion sites in the primer-donor complex, with or without NC. Propagation and terminus transfer steps, emanating from a PCIS in the presence of NC, were stimulated by polymerization-dependent but not -independent RNase H. RNase H can carry out primary and secondary cleavages during synthesis. While both modes of cleavage promoted invasion, only primary cleavage promoted propagation in the presence of NC in our system. These observations suggest that once invasion is initiated at a short gap, it can propagate through an adjacent region interrupted only by nicks, with help by NC. We considered the possibility that propagation solely by strand exchange was a significant contributor to transfers. However, it did not promote transfer, even if synthetic progress of the RT was intentionally slowed, which is consistent with strand exchange by random walk in which rate declines precipitously with distance.