Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. [2] After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its RNA genome, the reverse of the usual pattern, thus retro (backward).
Dendrogram of various classes of endogenous retroviruses. Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are endogenous viral elements in the genome that closely resemble and can be derived from retroviruses. They are abundant in the genomes of jawed vertebrates, and they comprise up to 5–8% of the human genome (lower estimates of ~1%). [1] [2]
Env genes are found in LTR retrotransposon types Ty1-copia (Pseudoviridae), Ty3-gypsy (Metaviridae) and BEL/Pao. [9] [8] They encode glycoproteins on the retrovirus envelope needed for entry into the host cell. Retroviruses can move between cells whereas LTR retrotransposons can only move themselves into the genome of the same cell. [10]
A reverse transcriptase (RT) is an enzyme used to convert RNA genome to DNA, a process termed reverse transcription.Reverse transcriptases are used by viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B to replicate their genomes, by retrotransposon mobile genetic elements to proliferate within the host genome, and by eukaryotic cells to extend the telomeres at the ends of their linear chromosomes.
HIV-1 protease or PR is a retroviral aspartyl protease (retropepsin), an enzyme involved with peptide bond hydrolysis in retroviruses, that is essential for the life-cycle of HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS.
XMRV is a recombinant virus observed incidentally as a result of recombination between two endogenous mouse retroviruses by prostate cancer researchers in the mid-1990s. Although it can infect human tissue, no known disease is associated with the infection [10] [11] [12] and it is unlikely to exist outside laboratories. [13]
This means that the virus must bring along with it the enzyme RNA replicase. The positive-sense RNA molecule then acts as viral mRNA, which is translated into proteins by the host ribosomes. Retroviruses (Group VI) have a single-stranded RNA genome but, in general, are not considered RNA viruses because they use DNA intermediates to replicate.
It was found that without rev expression, there was a marked increase in nuclear env RNA, which suggests that rev plays an important role in the nuclear export of env mRNA. [10] The role of rev was further elucidated when it was found that rev acts in trans to target a specific sequence present in the env gene of HIV-1 to initiate export of ...