Modelling, synthesis and biological activity of a BLV proteinase, made of (only) 116 amino acids

Total chemical synthesis of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 protease via native chemical ligation

Human T-cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1) protease, a member of the aspartic acid protease family, plays critical roles in the pathogenesis of the virus and is an attractive viral target for therapeutic intervention. HTLV-1 protease consists of 125 amino acid residues and functions as a homodimer stabilized in part by a four-stranded beta-sheet comprising the N- and C-termini. Compared with many other viral proteases such as HIV-1 protease, HTLV-1 protease is elongated by an extra 10 amino acid residue "tail" at the C-terminus. The structural and functional role of the extra C-terminal residues in the catalysis of HTLV-1 protease has been a subject of debate for years. Using the native chemical ligation technique pioneered by Kent and coworkers, we chemically synthesized a full-length HTLV protease and a C-terminally truncated form encompassing residues 1-116. Enzyme kinetic analysis using three different peptide substrates indicated that truncation of the C-terminal tail lowered the turnover number of the viral enzyme by a factor of 2 and its catalytic efficiency by roughly 10-fold. Our findings differ from the two extreme views that the C-terminal tail of HTLV-1 protease is either fully dispensable or totally required for enzyme dimerization and/or catalysis.

C-terminal residues of mature human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 protease are critical for dimerization and catalytic activity

HTLV-1 [HTLV (human T-cell lymphotrophic virus) type 1] is associated with a number of human diseases. HTLV-1 protease is essential for virus replication, and similarly to HIV-1 protease, it is a potential target for chemotherapy. The primary sequence of HTLV-1 protease is substantially longer compared with that of HIV-1 protease, and the role of the ten C-terminal residues is controversial. We have expressed C-terminally-truncated forms of HTLV-1 protease with and without N-terminal His tags. Removal of five of the C-terminal residues caused a 4-40-fold decrease in specificity constants, whereas the removal of an additional five C-terminal residues rendered the protease completely inactive. The addition of the N-terminal His tag dramatically decreased the activity of HTLV-1 protease forms. Pull-down experiments carried out with His-tagged forms, gel-filtration experiments and dimerization assays provided the first unequivocal experimental results for the role of the C-terminal residues in dimerization of the enzyme. There is a hydrophobic tunnel on the surface of HTLV-1 protease close to the C-terminal ends that is absent in the HIV-1 protease. This hydrophobic tunnel can accommodate the extra C-terminal residues of HTLV-1 protease, which was predicted to stabilize the dimer of the full-length enzyme and provides an alternative target site for protease inhibition.

Bovine leukemia virus protease: comparison with human T-lymphotropic virus and human immunodeficiency virus proteases

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a valuable model system for understanding human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1); the availability of an infectious BLV clone, together with animal-model systems, will help to explore anti-HTLV-1 strategies. Nevertheless, the specificity and inhibitor sensitivity of the BLV protease (PR) have not been characterized in detail. To facilitate such studies, a molecular model for the enzyme was built. The specificity of the BLV PR was studied with a set of oligopeptides representing naturally occurring cleavage sites in various retroviruses. Unlike HTLV-1 PR, but similar to the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) enzyme, BLV PR was able to hydrolyse the majority of the peptides, mostly at the same position as did their respective host PRs, indicating a broad specificity. When amino acid residues of the BLV PR substrate-binding sites were replaced by equivalent ones of the HIV-1 PR, many substitutions resulted in inactive protein, indicating a great sensitivity to mutations, as observed previously for the HTLV-1 PR. The specificity of the enzyme was studied further by using a series of peptides containing amino acid substitutions in a sequence representing a naturally occurring HTLV-1 PR cleavage site. Also, inhibitors of HIV-1 PR, HTLV-1 PR and other retroviral proteases were tested on the BLV PR. Interestingly, the BLV PR was more susceptible than the HTLV-1 PR to the inhibitors tested. Therefore, despite the specificity differences, in terms of mutation intolerance and inhibitor susceptibility of the PR, BLV and the corresponding animal-model systems may provide good models for testing of PR inhibitors that target HTLV-1.

The 10 C-terminal residues of HTLV-I protease are not necessary for enzymatic activity

Sequence alignment of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) protease and other retroviral proteases reveals that the leukemia virus proteases contain residues at the C-terminus that are absent in the other proteases. We have prepared a mutant of HTLV-I protease that does not contain the 10 C-terminal residues and demonstrated that the catalytic efficiency of cleavage of a peptide substrate is unaffected.

Three active forms of aspartic proteinase from Mason-Pfizer monkey virus

Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV) proteinase, released by the autocatalytic cleavage of Gag-Pro and Gag-Pro-Pol polypeptide precursors, catalyzes the processing of viral precursors to yield the structural proteins and enzymes of the virion. In retroviruses, usually only one proteolytically active form of proteinase exists. Here, we describe an unusual feature of M-PMV, the existence of three active forms of a retroviral proteinase with molecular masses of 17, 13, and 12 kDa as determined by mass spectroscopy. These forms arise in vitro by self-processing of a 26-kDa proteinase precursor. We have developed a process for isolation of each truncated product and demonstrate that all three forms display proteolytic activity. Amino acid analyses, as well as the determination of N- and C-terminal sequences, revealed that the N-termini of all three forms are identical, confirming that in vitro autoprocessing of the 17-kDa form occurs at the C-terminus to yield the truncated forms. The 17-kDa form and the newly described 13-kDa form of proteinase were identified in virions collected from the rhesus monkey CMMT cell line chronically infected with M-PMV, confirming that multiple forms exist in vivo.

A p6Pol-protease fusion protein is present in mature particles of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) and p6(Pol) are translated as part of the Gag-Pol polyprotein after a ribosomal frameshift. PR is essential to virus replication and is responsible for cleaving Gag and Gag-Pol precursors, but the role of p6(Pol) in HIV-1 infection is poorly understood. Here, we report that (i) PR is present in mature HIV-1 virions primarily as a p6(Pol)-PR fusion protein; (ii) HIV-1 PR cleaves viral precursor proteins expressed in bacterial cells at the Phe-Leu bond (positions 1639 to 1642) located at the junction of the NC and p6(Pol) proteins, releasing the p6(Pol)-PR fusion protein; and (iii) purified p6(Pol)-PR fusion protein undergoes autocleavage in vitro at at least three sites.

Inhibition of activity of the protease from bovine leukemia virus

In view of the close similarity between bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) we investigated the possibility of developing specific inhibitors of the proteases of these retroviruses using the purified enzyme from BLV. We tested the ability of this protease to specifically cleave various short oligopeptide substrates containing cleavage sites of BLV and HTLV-I proteases, as well as a recombinant BLV Gag precursor. The best substrate, a synthetic decapeptide bearing the natural cleavage site between the matrix and the capsid proteins of BLV Gag precursor polyprotein, was used to develop an inhibition assay. We determined the relative inhibitory effect of synthetic Gag precursor-like peptides in which the cleavable site was replaced by a non-hydrolyzable moiety. The encouraging inhibitory effect of these compounds indicates that potent non-peptidic inhibitors for retroviral proteases are not unattainable.