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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, July 2005, p. 2657-2664, Vol. 49, No. 7
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.49.7.2657-2664.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
McGill AIDS Centre, Lady Davis Institute-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec H3T 1E2,1 Departments of Experimental Medicine,2 Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T5, Canada3
Received 21 December 2004/ Returned for modification 15 February 2005/ Accepted 5 April 2005
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Nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) of HIV-1 replication are a class of drugs that act as chain terminators of viral DNA synthesis by virtue of the fact that they lack a 3'-OH group. Combinations of NRTIs have been successfully used in the treatment of HIV-1-infected patients (6, 22). However, resistance has been reported in regard to all currently approved members of this class (17).
Two distinct mechanisms have been described to explain HIV-1 drug resistance to nucleoside analogues. One of these involves the diminished acceptance by mutated, resistant RT enzymes of NRTIs, such that these molecules are discriminated against and are no longer incorporated into the nascent viral DNA chain (19). The other mechanism involves increased phosphorolytic excision of the incorporated drug (1, 26).
The M184V mutation in the RT of HIV-1 is associated with high-level resistance to lamivudine and low- to intermediate-level resistance to didanosine (ddI) and abacavir (ABC) (2, 9, 36), while the K65R mutation is principally associated with a low to intermediate level of resistance to tenofovir both in vitro and in vivo (28, 45). The L74V mutation also confers low- to intermediate-level resistance to ddI and ABC (29).
Combinations of M184V and L74V are frequently found in patients treated with ABC-containing regimens. Both mutations share a number of other characteristics: all involve similar discriminatory mechanisms in regard to incorporation of relevant NRTIs that would ordinarily inhibit reverse transcription (12); all result in diminished RT processivity and viral replication capacity (40); and L74V- and M184V-containing mutant enzymes are severely impaired in regard to efficiency of RNA primer usage (8) and have been associated with zidovudine-hypersusceptibility and suppression of resistance (25, 43).
We have recently demonstrated that M184V-containing mutant enzymes compromise the phosphorolytic removal of incorporated ZDV and the ensuing rescue of DNA synthesis, which provides a plausible mechanism for drug hypersusceptibility (13). Other suppressor mutations that are implicated in ZDV hypersusceptibility, i.e., Y181C, which confers resistance to non-NRTIs and various mutations that reduce susceptibility to foscarnet (38, 42) show similar effects, although the location of these residues in the three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 RT differs substantially. In this study, we investigated molecular mechanisms involved in ZDV hypersusceptibility in the context of the L74V mutation and the combination of L74V and M184V.
(This work was performed by F. A. Frankel in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.)
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Cells and viruses. H9 cells and the human lymphoblastoid T-cell lines MT-2 and MT-4 were grown in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, 10% fetal calf serum, and penicillin/streptomycin as described (11). pNL4-3-derived wild-type viruses and viruses containing the L74V, M184V, and L74V/184V mutations were amplified in MT-4 cells as previously described (8) and stored at 80°C until use.
Drugs. ZDV was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Inc. (Oakville, Ontario, Canada). ZDV triphosphate (ZDV-TP) was purchased from Trilink Biotechnologies (San Diego, California).
Phenotypic resistance assay. To determine the sensitivity of wild-type and L74V-containing viruses to ZDV, 2 x 106 MT-2 cells were infected as previously described with 105 TCID50 virus stock and incubated in 1 ml RPMI 1640 complete medium at 37°C for 2 h (8). The cells were then washed and plated in increasing concentrations of ZDV. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were determined based on RT activity, which was measured in culture supernatants after 4 days as previously described (10).
Rescue of chain-terminated DNA synthesis with PPi or ATP.
The PPT-18 primer was radiolabeled at the 5' end with [
-32P]ATP and T4 polynucleotide kinase at 37°C for 30 min and purified on an 8% polyacrylamide-7 M urea gel. ZDV-terminated primer strands were detected as previously described (13). In brief, 0.425 µM PPT-18 primer was mixed with 1.275 µM PPT-57 DNA template and 32P-radiolabeled PPT-18 in a buffer containing 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.8, and 50 mM NaCl. Next, the mixture was denatured at 95°C for 2 min, incubated at 70°C for 15 min, and cooled down at room temperature for 30 min. Then, 1.275 µM of wild-type or mutated RT, 10 µM dCTP, and 10 µM ZDV-TP were added to the prehybridized primer-template complex. Reactions were initiated by the addition of 6 mM MgCl2 and allowed to proceed for 30 min at 37°C.
The excision of the ZDV-terminated primer was initiated by adding a mix containing 100 µM dTTP, 10 µM dGTP, 100 µM ddATP, and 150 µM PPi or 3.5 mM ATP. A 35 mM solution of ATP was pretreated with 1 U of inorganic pyrophosphatase to control for putative contaminating PPi. DNA synthesis was monitored in time course experiments. Samples were resolved in an 8% polyacrylamide-7 M urea gel followed by overnight exposure on X-ray films (Kodak BioMax MR Film). Band intensities were analyzed by densitometry or by molecular imaging.
Site-specific footprinting. Footprinting experiments were performed using a stable solution of potassium peroxynitrite (KOONO) as recently described (23).
Real-time PCR. We established a real-time PCR assay to detect early versus late products in reverse transcription. Reverse-transcribed DNAs were detected using the Light Cycler Fast Start DNA SYBR Green I kit (Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Indianapolis, IN) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, 50 to 100 ng DNA was added to a master mix containing 3 to 4 mM MgCl2, 0.4 µM of each primer, and appropriate concentrations of deoxynucleoside triphosphates and Taq DNA polymerase in a 20 µl final volume. In all cases, an initial denaturing step of 95°C for 10 min and a total of 35 cycles were performed.
To determine the earliest product of reverse transcription, i.e., minus strong-stop viral DNA [()ssDNA], PCR conditions were as follows: 95°C for 10 seconds, 68°C for 5 seconds, 72°C for 6 seconds, and acquisition temperature 80°C for 1 second. To determine the levels of HIV-1 DNA representing intermediate products after the first strand transfer, PCR conditions were as follows: 95°C for 10 seconds, 68°C for 5 seconds, and 72°C for 12 seconds, including acquisition. To determine full-length HIV-1 DNA, PCR conditions were as follows: 95°C for 10 seconds, 64°C for 5 seconds, 72°C for 5 seconds, and acquisition temperature 80°C for 1 second. PCR specificity was assessed by melting curve analysis and further confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis.
The primer sequences used to determine levels of HIV-1 ()ssDNA, DNA representing intermediate products after the first strand transfer and full-length DNA have been previously described (21, 34). Briefly, primers PS and A55 bind to the region spanning R-U5 and were used to determine ()ssDNA; primers pUT and A55 bind to the region spanning U3 and R and were used to determine intermediate products after the first strand transfer; primers pgag and Pst-A bind to the region spanning the gag gene and were used to determine full-length HIV-1 DNA. HIV-1 DNA copy numbers were normalized based on the amount of the ß-globin gene, which was determined using the LC Control kit (Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Indianapolis, IN), according to the manufacturer's instructions. Standard curves were constructed by measuring triplicate dilutions of an AgeI-linearized pNL4-3 proviral clone over a range of 102 to 106 copies/µl.
Viral replication assays. We infected 106 H9 cells with DNase I-treated wild-type or mutated HIV-1 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.0001 in a 24-well plate as previously described (44). At 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h after infection, cells were washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline and resuspended in 200 µl phosphate-buffered saline. DNA was extracted using a QIAamp DNA minikit (QIAGEN Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) according to the manufacturer's instructions and quantified by optical density at 260 nm. Reverse-transcribed DNAs were quantified by real-time PCR as described above.
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TABLE 1. IC50s and resistance to ZDV in cell culture assaysa
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FIG. 1. Efficiency of excision of incorporated ZDV-MP in the presence of 3.5 mM ATP. The efficiencies of the reactions with wild-type and mutant RTs were compared in time course experiments. (A) Graphic representation of the cell-free system (PPT-57/PPT-18) used to monitor the excision of ZDV-MP from newly synthesized HIV-1 DNA. (B) Comparison between wild-type RT and L74V RT. (C) Comparison between M184V RT and the double mutant L74V/M184V RT. Lane C corresponds to control labeled primer. Lanes 1 to 11 show reaction products at 0, 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 22, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min after addition of the excision mix, respectively. (D) Graphic representation of gel-based assays shown in B and C. Values are means of at least three independent experiments ± standard error.
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FIG. 2. Efficiency of excision of incorporated ZDV-MP in the presence of 150 µM PPi. The efficiencies of the reactions with wild-type and mutant RTs were compared in time course experiments. (A) Graphic representation of the cell-free system (PPT-57/PPT-18) used to monitor the excision of ZDV-MP from newly synthesized HIV-1 DNA. (B) Comparison between wild-type RT and L74V RT. (C) Comparison between M184V RT and the double mutant L74V/M184V RT. Lane C corresponds to control labeled primer. Lanes 1 to 9 show reaction products at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, and 120 seconds after addition of the excision mix, respectively. (D) Graphic representation of gel-based assays shown in B and C. Values are means of at least three independent experiments ± standard error.
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To test this hypothesis, we conducted site-specific footprinting experiments as recently described (23). The results in Fig. 3B show that footprinting of RT-DNA/DNA complexes with potassium peroxynitrite (KOONO), in the presence of increasing concentrations of the next templated deoxynucleoside triphosphate, resulted in a gradual shift of cleavage from template position 8 to 7. This one-nucleotide shift represents the difference between the pre- and posttranslocational configurations of RT. The phosphorolytic excision of incorporated nucleotides is only possible in the pretranslocation configuration with cleavage specificity at position 8, while the appearance of a band at 7 points to a dead-end complex that is present after translocation takes place. Therefore, the L74V mutation may be expected to facilitate the formation of the latter complex, which would help to explain the diminished rates of excision associated with this mutation.
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FIG. 3. Site-specific footprinting of wild-type RT and L74V RT with KOONO. (A) Sequence of the DNA/DNA primer/template substrate. The primer was terminated with ZDV-MP (Z) and subsequently incubated with increasing concentrations of the next complementary nucleotide. (B) Lanes 1 to 12 show footprints on 3'-end-labeled template strands in the presence of 0, 1, 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 µM dGTP, respectively.
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Viruses harboring L74V display decreased synthesis of ()ssDNA, DNA produced after the first strand transfer, and full-length DNA in reverse transcription. Recently, L74V- and M184V-containing enzymes have been shown to display diminished efficiency of initiation of minus- and plus-strand DNA synthesis (8). To study possible correlations between the decreased levels of minus- and plus-strand DNA synthesis by L74V and M184V RTs and the observed diminished replication capacity associated with L74V- and M184V-containing viruses, we evaluated the efficiency of the reverse transcription reaction by real-time PCR in a single round of infection.
Quantification of the data showed that both wild-type and mutant viruses produced peak levels of ()ssDNA, DNA produced after the first strand transfer, and full-length DNA at 12 h after infection, as previously documented (18). Moreover, the wild-type viruses produced 2.2 to 4.9 times more ()ssDNA than did viruses containing either the L74V or M184V mutation or both L74V and M184V during this time (Fig. 4A). These differences were even more striking in the case of intermediate DNA products after the first strand transfer (Fig. 4B) and full-length DNA (Fig. 4C), for which 6.4-fold and 12.2-fold differences existed between the wild-type and doubly mutated L74V/M184V viruses, respectively (Fig. 4D).
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FIG. 4. Viral replication kinetics of different reverse-transcribed HIV-1 DNAs. We infected 106 H9 cells with wild-type and mutant HIV-1 viruses at an MOI of 0.0001. After 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 h of infection, reverse-transcribed DNAs were quantified by real-time PCR as described in Materials and Methods. (A) ()ssDNA. (B) Intermediate products of reverse transcription. (C) Full-length DNA. (D) Ratio between newly synthesized wild-type HIV-1 DNA and mutant HIV-1 DNA for the different reverse-transcribed products at 12 h of infection. Values are means of at least three independent experiments ± standard error.
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Both the M184V and K65R mutations in HIV-1 RT impair the rescue of chain-terminated DNA synthesis (3, 13, 27). Now we have shown that L74V-containing RTs also display impaired rescue of ZDV-MP chain-terminated primers compared with wild-type RT in the presence of ATP as a pyrophosphate donor. We postulate that this mechanism is probably responsible for the hypersensitivity to ZDV seen in tissue culture when viruses containing L74V are studied. In addition, we found slight differences in regard to unblocking of ZDV-terminated primers in the presence of PPi between wild-type and L74V RTs. Furthermore, the doubly mutated L74V/M184V RT displayed similar levels of ZDV-MP unblocking to those of M184V RT, suggesting that the effect of the M184V mutation exceeds that of the L74V mutation.
The presence of the L74V mutation in HIV-1 has been shown to suppress the appearance of TAMs (4). Recently, it has also been shown that HIV-1 RTs containing the L74V mutation in a TAM background significantly reduced ATP-mediated primer unblocking, thus partially reversing the effect of TAMs (L. R. Miranda, M. Götte, and D. R. Kuritzkes, submitted for publication) (30). This finding is consistent with the observations in this paper on the hypersensitization to ZDV of viruses containing L74V.
Several laboratories have proposed that ATP is the most important pyrophosphate donor under physiological conditions and excision can only occur at a pretranslocational stage (32, 35). Our footprinting experiments suggest that the L74V and M184V mutations do not affect the ratio between the populations of RT-DNA and DNA complexes found at the pre- and posttranslocational stages. Rather, these mutations may affect the precise alignment between the enzyme, the pyrophosphate donor ATP, and the chain-terminated primer-template such that the catalytic step is compromised. Alternatively, the enzyme may dissociate more frequently from its nucleic acid substrate before excision can occur. This would be consistent with reduced processivity of the mutant enzymes that contain L74V and/or M184V. These mutations may also affect affinity for ATP, in the pretranslocation position, which would likewise affect the excision reaction. Finally, the L74V and M184V mutations may affect the proper alignment between the incorporated chain terminator and the pyrophosphate donor.
Viruses harboring the L74V mutation have been shown to possess diminished replication capacity compared to wild-type viruses (39). Previous studies have also suggested that diminished RT processivity as well as diminished RNA primer usage may be factors associated with the decreased fitness of L74V or M184V-containing viruses (8). Here we have shown that L74V-, M184V-, and L74V/M184V-containing viruses display diminished synthesis of ()ssDNA, DNA produced after the first strand transfer, and full-length DNA compared to wild-type viruses during a single round of infection. Moreover, the doubly mutated L74V/M184V virus showed the greatest reduction in this regard, consistent with the results of previously published viral replication assays (7).
The fact that L74V-containing viruses display diminished replication capacity as well as hypersensitivity to ZDV suggests that interpretation algorithms for genotypic resistance may need to be modified, although only randomized trials can validate a potential change in therapy.
These findings add to the evidence that the L74V and M184V mutations should be regarded as a group with regard to shared mechanisms of resistance to NRTIs and the consequences of these mutations on both RT enzymatic function and viral fitness. We now wish to study whether other drug resistance-related mutations in association with L74V and/or M184V will also lead to decreased efficiency of excision of chain-terminated primers.
Fernando A. Frankel is the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) doctoral fellowship award. This work was supported by grants from CIHR.
Dedicated to the memory of Silvio Frankel. ![]()
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