Evaluating the importance of pseudoknot formation to HTLV‐1 pro‐pol ‐1 programmed ribosomal frameshift stimulation.

Abstract

The Human T‐cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV‐1) encodes two ‐1 programmed ribosomal frameshift (PRF) sites, which allow for the translation of enzymes critical to viral replication. The frequency, or frameshift efficiency, of this event is also thought to be important in the viral life cycle. Each PRF site includes a heptanucleotide “slippery” sequence, a spacer, and a downstream structure. The downstream structure in the HTLV‐1 pro‐pol frameshift site is predicted to be a pseudoknot. The importance of this structure to the efficiency of frameshifting has not yet been established. To improve our understanding of the role this structure has in frameshift stimulation, we designed frameshift site variants that disrupt the pseudoknot structure. The frameshift efficiency for these sites was then measured using an in vitro dual‐luciferase assay. Preliminary data suggests that the removal or mutation of sequences important to pseudoknot formation significantly reduce the HTLV‐1 pro‐pol frameshift efficiency. These findings are significant because they suggest that the HTLV‐1 pro‐pol frameshift site pseudoknot structure plays a criticial role in frameshift stimulation.Support or Funding InformationIH NIGMS SCORE SC2 Award (1SC2GM121197‐01), Research Corporation for Science Advancement Cottrell Scholar Award (23983), Fort Lewis College Undergraduate Scholarly and Creative Activities AwardThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.