Abstract
An essential step in the life cycle of retroviruses is insertion of a double-stranded DNA copy of the viral RNA genome into the host cell DNA, to form the provirus. The insertion event depends on at least one viral protein, the integration protein (IN), which is a product of the viral pol gene. Mutations in the IN coding region of pol result in integration-negative retroviruses that will no longer replicate.1–3 The proviral DNA is identical to the precursor viral DNA except for the loss of two base pairs at each end, at the points of attachment to cellular DNA. One proposed function for IN is the removal of these two bases from the 3′-termini of both strands of the viral DNA, in preparation for integration.
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© 1991 Plenum Press, New York
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Sherman, P.A., Fyfe, J.A. (1991). DNA Cleaving Activity of Purified Human Immunodeficiency Virus Integration Protein. In: Kumar, A. (eds) Advances in Molecular Biology and Targeted Treatment for AIDS. GWUMC Department of Biochemistry Annual Spring Symposia. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5928-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5928-9_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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