Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Pairwise Growth Competition Assay for Determining the Replication Fitness of Human Immunodeficiency Viruses
Published on: May 4, 2015
Decreasing the frameshift efficiency translates into an equivalent reduction of the replication of the human
Dominic Dulude1, Yamina A Berchiche, Karine Gendron
1Département de Biochimie, Université de Montréal, 2900 Boul. Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3T1J4.
Abstract:
The Gag-Pol polyprotein of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the precursor of the virus enzymatic activities and is produced via a programmed -1 translational frameshift. In this study, we altered the frameshift efficiency by introducing mutations within the slippery sequence and the frameshift stimulatory signal, the two elements that control the frameshift. These mutations decreased the frameshift efficiency to different degrees, ranging from approximately 0.3% to 70% of the wild-type efficiency. These values were mirrored by a reduced incorporation of Gag-Pol into virus-like particles, as assessed by a decrease in the reverse transcriptase activity associated to these particles. Analysis of Gag processing in infectious mutant virions revealed processing defects to various extents, with no clear correlation with frameshift decrease. Nevertheless, the observed frameshift reductions translated into equivalently reduced viral infectivity and replication kinetics. Our results show that even moderate variations in frameshift efficiency, as obtained with mutations in the frameshift stimulatory signal, reduce viral replication. Therapeutic targeting of this structure may therefore result in the attenuation of virus replication and in clinical benefit.
More Related Videos
14:23A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
12:03Evaluation of the Efficacy And Toxicity of RNAs Targeting HIV-1 Production for Use in Gene or Drug Therapy
Published on: September 5, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly
Viral Mutations
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Viruses with RNA Genomes
Size and Structure of Viral Genomes