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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The long terminal repeat (LTR) of the proviral human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 genome is integral to virus transcription and host cell infection. The guanine-rich U3 region within the LTR promoter, previously shown to form G-quadruplex structures, represents an attractive target to inhibit HIV transcription and replication. In this work, we report the structure of a biologically relevant G-quadruplex within the LTR promoter region of HIV-1. The guanine-rich sequence designated LTR-IV forms a well-defined structure in physiological cationic solution. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of this sequence reveals a parallel-stranded G-quadruplex containing a single-nucleotide thymine bulge, which participates in a conserved stacking interaction with a neighboring single-nucleotide adenine loop. Transcription analysis in a HIV-1 replication competent cell indicates that the LTR-IV region may act as a modulator of G-quadruplex formation in the LTR promoter. Consequently, the LTR-IV G-quadruplex structure presented within this work could represent a valuable target for the design of HIV therapeutics.

Structure and possible function of a G-quadruplex in the long terminal repeat of the proviral HIV-1 genome.,De Nicola B, Lech CJ, Heddi B, Regmi S, Frasson I, Perrone R, Richter SN, Phan AT Nucleic Acids Res. 2016 Jun 13. pii: gkw432. PMID:27298260^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.