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Updated: May 24, 2026

Rapid Screening of HIV Reverse Transcriptase and Integrase Inhibitors
Published on: April 9, 2014
Zidovudine (AZT) monotherapy selects for the A360V mutation in the connection domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase
Jessica H Brehm1, Yanille Scott, Dianna L Koontz
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Background:
We previously demonstrated in vitro that zidovudine (AZT) selects for A371V in the connection domain and Q509L in ribonuclease H (RNase H) domain of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) which, together with the thymidine analog mutations D67N, K70R and T215F, confer greater than 100-fold AZT resistance. The goal of the current study was to determine whether AZT monotherapy in HIV-1 infected patients also selects the A371V, Q509L or other mutations in the C-terminal domains of HIV-1 RT.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
Full-length RT sequences in plasma obtained pre- and post-therapy were compared in 23 participants who received AZT monotherapy from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group study 175. Five of the 23 participants reached a primary study endpoint. Mutations significantly associated with AZT monotherapy included K70R (p = 0.003) and T215Y (p = 0.013) in the polymerase domain of HIV-1 RT, and A360V (p = 0.041) in the connection domain of HIV-1 RT. HIV-1 drug susceptibility assays demonstrated that A360V, either alone or in combination with thymidine analog mutations, decreased AZT susceptibility in recombinant viruses containing participant-derived full-length RT sequences or site-directed mutant RT. Biochemical studies revealed that A360V enhances the AZT-monophosphate excision activity of purified RT by significantly decreasing the frequency of secondary RNase H cleavage events that reduce the RNA/DNA duplex length and promote template/primer dissociation.
Conclusions:
The A360V mutation in the connection domain of RT was selected in HIV-infected individuals that received AZT monotherapy and contributed to AZT resistance.
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