HIV-1 protease specificity of peptide cleavage is sufficient for processing of gag and pol polyproteins

The mature proteins of retroviruses originate as a result of proteolytic cleavages of polyprotein precursors. Retroviruses encode proteases responsible for several of these processing events, making them potential antiviral drug targets. A 99-amino acid HIV-1 protease, produced by chemical synthesis or by expression in bacteria, is shown here to hydrolyze peptides corresponding to all of the known cleavage sites in the HIV-1 gag and pol polyproteins. It does not hydrolyze peptides corresponding to an env cleavage site or a distantly related retroviral gag cleavage site.