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Mutational patterns in the frameshift-regulating site of HIV-1 selected by protease inhibitors

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Abstract

Sustained suppression of viral replication in HIV-1 infected patients is especially hampered by the emergence of HIV-1 drug resistance. The mechanisms of drug resistance mainly involve mutations directly altering the interaction of viral enzymes and inhibitors. However, protease inhibitors do not only select for mutations in the protease but also for mutations in the precursor Gag and Pol proteins. In this study, we analysed the frameshift-regulating site of HIV-1 subtype B isolates, which also encodes for Gag and Pol proteins, classified as either treatment-naïve (TN) or protease inhibitor resistant (PI-R). HIV-1 Gag cleavage site mutations (G435E, K436N, I437V, L449F/V) especially correlated with protease inhibitor resistance mutations, but also Pol cleavage site mutations (D05G, D05S) could be assigned to specific protease resistance profiles. Additionally, two Gag non-cleavage site mutations (S440F, H441P) were observed more often in HIV-1 isolates carrying protease resistance mutations. However, in dual luciferase assays, the frameshift efficiencies of specific clones did not reveal any effect from these mutations. Nevertheless, two patterns of mutations modestly increased the frameshift rates in vitro, but were not specifically accumulating in PI-resistant HIV-1 isolates. In summary, HIV-1 Gag cleavage site mutations were dominantly selected in PI-resistant HIV-1 isolates but also Pol cleavage site mutations influenced resistance profiles in the protease. Additionally, Gag non-cleavage site mutations accumulated in PI-resistant HIV-1 isolates, but were not related to an increased frameshift efficiency.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Koeln Fortune Program and the German Ministry of Health and Social Security (grand no. AZ 319-4476-02/3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Virology, University of Cologne, Fürst-Pückler Str. 56, 50935, Cologne, Germany

    Elena Knops, Eugen Schülter, Herbert Pfister, Rolf Kaiser & Jens Verheyen

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Université de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Léa Brakier-Gingras

Authors
  1. Elena Knops
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  2. Léa Brakier-Gingras
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  3. Eugen Schülter
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  4. Herbert Pfister
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  5. Rolf Kaiser
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  6. Jens Verheyen
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Correspondence to Jens Verheyen.

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Knops, E., Brakier-Gingras, L., Schülter, E. et al. Mutational patterns in the frameshift-regulating site of HIV-1 selected by protease inhibitors. Med Microbiol Immunol 201, 213–218 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-011-0224-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-011-0224-z

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