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Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Millisecond mixing and quenching experiments demonstrate an apparent t1/2 for the labeling of phosphorylated sarcoplasmic reticulum ATPase by 32Pi at pH 6 and 30 degrees C of 30 to 40 ms. Under the same conditions, the rate of exchange of water oxygens with inorganic phosphate (Pi) is about 40 mol of H2O exchanged with Pi per 10(6) g of protein per s. Theoretical equations are developed for the expected 32P-labeling pattern given various comparative rates of flux between Pi and the Michaelis complex and between the Michaelis complex and phosphorylated enzyme. The results show that the rapid reversal of the formation of the phosphorylated enzyme is a major source of the oxygen exchange and are consistent with such reversal being the only source.

Federal Fluminense (UFF). 2. Doutora em Ciências Biológicas (Biofísica) pela Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); professora adjunta da UFRJ. 3. Doutora em Patologia Bucodental pela UFF. 4. Pós-doutora em Ciências Biológicas pelo National Institutes Of Health (NIH); professora adjunta da UFRJ. 5. Doutora em Patologia (Anatomia Patológica) pela UFF; professora titular do Departamento de Patologia da UFF. Apoio financeiro: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). artigo de atualiZação update paper J Bras Patol Med Lab • v. 47 • n. 4 • p. 451-459 • agosto 2011 Primeira submissão em 26/11/10 Última submissão em 13/05/11 Aceito para publicação em 27/05/11 Publicado em 20/08/11

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Transcriptional regulatory mechanisms found in lentiviruses employ RNA enhancer elements called trans-activation responsive (TAR) elements. These nascent RNA stem-loops are cis-acting targets of virally encoded Tat effectors. Interactions between Tat and TAR increase the processivity of transcription complexes and lead to efficient copying of viral genomes. To study essential elements of this trans activation, peptide motifs from Tats of two distantly related lentiviruses, equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), were fused to the coat protein of bacteriophage R17 and tested on the long terminal repeat of EIAV, where TAR was replaced by the R17 operator, the target of the coat protein. This independent RNA-tethering mechanism mapped activation domains of Tats from HIV-1 and EIAV to 47 and 15 amino acids and RNA-binding domains to 10 and 26 amino acids, respectively. Thus, a minimal lentivirus Tat consists of 25 amino acids, of which 15 modify viral transcription and 10 bind to the target RNA stem-loop.

A hairpinlike structure is predicted to exist at the 5' end of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) RNA which is similar in many ways to the human immunodeficiency type 1 (HIV-1) Tat-responsive element (TAR). In EIAV, this structure has a shorter stem than in HIV-1 and lacks the uridine bulge. Primer extension analysis of EIAV RNA was used to identify the transcriptional start site in the viral long terminal repeat. Premature termination of primer elongation at the predicted double-stranded RNA region was frequently observed and suggests that the inferred hairpin structure exists under these conditions. We have functionally characterized EIAV TAR by site-directed mutagenesis and transient gene expression analysis. It is demonstrated here that the secondary structure of this element is essential for Tat action. Mutations that disrupted base pairing abolished TAR function, and compensatory mutations that restored the stem structure resulted in Tat activation. The TAR loop appears to be closed by two U.G base pairs that are likely to provide a unique structural motif recognized by the Tat protein. With one exception, substitutions of nucleotides within the EIAV loop sequence decreased TAR function. All nucleotide substitutions of the cytidine at position +14 increased EIAV Tat responsiveness; however, its deletion abolished trans activation. Our results lead us to propose that the EIAV and HIV-1 Tat systems employ closely related cis- and trans-acting components that probably act by the same mechanism.