Damien Ficheux

Impact of the Terminal Bulges of HIV-1 cTAR DNA on its Stability and the Destabilizing Activity of the Nucleocapsid Protein NCp7

Reverse transcription of HIV-1 genomic RNA to double-stranded DNA by reverse transcriptase (RT) is a critical step in HIV-1 replication. This process relies on two viral proteins, the RT enzyme and nucleocapsid protein NCp7 that has well documented nucleic acid chaperone properties. At the beginning of the linear DNA synthesis, the newly made minus-strand strong-stop DNA ((-)ssDNA) is transferred to the 3end of the genomic RNA by means of an hybridization reaction between transactivation response element (TAR) RNA and cTAR DNA sequences. Since both TAR sequences exhibit stable hairpin structures, NCp7 needs to destabilize the TAR structures in order to chaperone their hybridization. To further characterize the relationships between TAR stability and NC-mediated destabilization, the role of the A(49) and G(52) bulged residues in cTAR DNA stability was investigated. The stability of cTAR and mutants where one or the two terminal bulges were replaced by base-pairs as well as the NCp7-mediated destabilization of these cTAR sequences were examined. Thermodynamic data indicate that the two bulges cooperatively destabilize cTAR by reducing the stacking interactions between the bases. This causes a free energy change of about 6.4 kcal/mol and seems to be critical for NC activity. Time-resolved fluorescence data of doubly labelled cTAR derivatives suggest that NC-mediated melting of cTAR ends propagates up to the 10C.A(44) mismatch or T(40) bulge. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy using two-photon excitation was also used to monitor cTAR ends fraying by NC. Results show that NC causes a very significant increase of cTAR ends fraying, probably limited to the terminal base-pair in the case of cTAR mutants. Since the TAR RNA and cTAR DNA bulges or mismatches appear well conserved among all HIV-1 strains, the present data support the notion of a co-evolutionary relationship between TAR and NC activity.

The yeast Ty3 retrotransposon contains a 5′–3′ bipartite primer‐binding site and encodes nucleocapsid protein NCp9 functionally homologous to HIV‐1 NCp7

Retroviruses, including HIV‐1 and the distantly related yeast retroelement Ty3, all encode a nucleoprotein required for virion structure and replication. During an in vitro comparison of HIV‐1 and Ty3 nucleoprotein function in RNA dimerization and cDNA synthesis, we discovered a bipartite primer‐binding site (PBS) for Ty3 composed of sequences located at opposite ends of the genome. Ty3 cDNA synthesis requires the 3′ PBS for primer tRNAiMet annealing to the genomic RNA, and the 5′ PBS, in cis or in trans, as the reverse transcription start site. Ty3 RNA alone is unable to dimerize, but formation of dimeric tRNAiMet bound to the PBS was found to direct dimerization of Ty3 RNA–tRNAiMet. Interestingly, HIV‐1 nucleocapsid protein NCp7 and Ty3 NCp9 were interchangeable using HIV‐1 and Ty3 RNA template–primer systems. Our findings impact on the understanding of non‐canonical reverse transcription as well as on the use of Ty3 systems to screen for anti‐NCp7 drugs.

Analysis of hepatitis C virus RNA dimerization and core–RNA interactions

The core protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been shown previously to act as a potent nucleic acid chaperone in vitro, promoting the dimerization of the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the HCV genomic RNA, a process probably mediated by a small, highly conserved palindromic RNA motif, named DLS (dimer linkage sequence) [G. Cristofari, R. Ivanyi-Nagy, C. Gabus, S. Boulant, J. P. Lavergne, F. Penin and J. L. Darlix (2004) Nucleic Acids Res., 32, 2623–2631]. To investigate in depth HCV RNA dimerization, we generated a series of point mutations in the DLS region. We find that both the plus-strand 3′-UTR and the complementary minus-strand RNA can dimerize in the presence of core protein, while mutations in the DLS (among them a single point mutation that abolished RNA replication in a HCV subgenomic replicon system) completely abrogate dimerization. Structural probing of plus- and minus-strand RNAs, in their monomeric and dimeric forms, indicate that the DLS is the major if not the sole determinant of UTR RNA dimerization. Furthermore, the N-terminal basic amino acid clusters of core protein were found to be sufficient to induce dimerization, suggesting that they retain full RNA chaperone activity. These findings may have important consequences for understanding the HCV replicative cycle and the genetic variability of the virus.

Functional Interactions of Nucleocapsid Protein of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and Cellular Prion Protein with the Viral RNA

All lentiviruses and oncoretroviruses examined so far encode a major nucleic-acid binding protein (nucleocapsid or NC* protein), approximately 2500 molecules of which coat the dimeric RNA genome. Studies on HIV-1 and MoMuLV using in vitro model systems and in vivo have shown that NC protein is required to chaperone viral RNA dimerization and packaging during virus assembly, and proviral DNA synthesis by reverse transcriptase (RT) during infection. The human cellular prion protein (PrP), thought to be the major component of the agent causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), was recently found to possess a strong affinity for nucleic acids and to exhibit chaperone properties very similar to HIV-1 NC protein in the HIV-1 context in vitro. Tight binding of PrP to nucleic acids is proposed to participate directly in the prion disease process. To extend our understanding of lentiviruses and of the unexpected nucleic acid chaperone properties of the human prion protein, we set up an in vitro system to investigate replication of the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which is functionally and phylogenetically distant from HIV-1. The results show that in the FIV model system, NC protein chaperones viral RNA dimerization, primer tRNA(Lys,3) annealing to the genomic primer-binding site (PBS) and minus strand DNA synthesis by the homologous FIV RT. FIV NC protein is able to trigger specific viral DNA synthesis by inhibiting self-priming of reverse transcription. The human prion protein was found to mimic the properties of FIV NC with respect to primer tRNA annealing to the viral RNA and chaperoning minus strand DNA synthesis.

Investigation by two-photon fluorescence correlation spectroscopy of the interaction of the nucleocapsid protein of HIV-1 with hairpin loop DNA sequences

The nucleocapsid protein NCp7 of HIV-1 possesses nucleic acid chaperone properties that are critical for the two strand transfer reactions required during reverse transcription. The first DNA strand transfer relies on the destabilization by NCp7 of double-stranded segments of the transactivation response element, TAR sequence, at the 3 end of the genomic RNA and the complementary sequence cTAR at the 3’ terminus of the early product of reverse transcription. To characterize NCp7-mediated nucleic acid destabilization, we investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy and two photon fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, the interaction of a doubly-labelled cTAR sequence with NCp7. The conformational fluctuations observed in the absence of NCp7 were associated with the rapid opening and closing (fraying) of the double stranded terminal segment of cTAR. NCp7 destabilizes cTAR mainly through a large increase of the opening rate constant. Additionally, the various destabilizing structures (bulges, internal loop, mismatches) spread all over cTAR secondary structure were found to be critical for NCp7 chaperone activity. Taken together, our data enabled us to propose a molecular mechanism for the destabilizing activity of NCp7 on cTAR which is crucial for the formation of the cTAR-TAR complex during the first strand transfer reaction.