PubMed · 8091649
A single stem-loop structure within the HTLV-1 Rex response element is sufficient to mediate Rex activity in vivo.
Abstract
The human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1) Rex protein is required for the cytoplasmic expression of the incompletely spliced transcripts that encode the viral structural proteins. This effect is mediated by a highly structured cis-acting RNA element of 254 nucleotides termed the Rex response element, or RexRE. Here we demonstrate that one of the four known RexRE stem-loop structures as well as a 43-nt segment derived from this element is sufficient to mediate Rex function in vivo. Upon duplication, this stem-loop is shown to function as efficiently as the full-length RexRE. In vitro RNA binding analyses with wildtype and mutagenized RNA show that this stem-loop contains a high affinity binding site for Rex that coincides with a predicted bulge structure in the central part of this stem-loop. These results indicate that a small region of the RexRE containing a high affinity binding site is sufficient to mediate Rex function and suggest that sequences outside of this binding site have no unique role in mediating Rex regulation.
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M Gröne, E Hoffmann, S Berchtold, B R Cullen, R Grassmann. 1994. A single stem-loop structure within the HTLV-1 Rex response element is sufficient to mediate Rex activity in vivo.. https://doi.org/10.1006/viro.1994.1518
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