Abstract
A site-specific recombinase Cre is responsible for the recombination at a 34 bp loxP site. This system has been investigated for the antiviral strategy to excise proviral DNA from retrovirus-infected cells. It was reported that loxP sites could be inserted into long terminal repeat (LTR) of retrovirus to delete proviral DNA. To apply this system to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) without inserting any DNA, one 34 bp sequence was selected from LTR of recombinant HIV-1 clone, loxLTR-1, based on sequence similarity between LTR and loxP, and sequence arrangement of 8 bp middle part in 34 bp LTR segment. When the 8 bp spacer region of loxP was changed into the corresponding middle part of loxLTR-1, this variant loxP would allow Cre to specifically recombine between themselves but not with wild-type loxP in vitro. This study suggests that site-specific excision of proviral DNA of HTV-1 could be catalyzed by the least modified Cre recognizing the loxLTR-1 sites.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 588-593 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications |
| Volume | 253 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 30 Dec 1998 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr. R. Hoess is grateful for the generous gift of plasmids pRH43 and pRH200. Dr. Young Hun Choi and Dr. Minhyung Lee are also thankful for their careful preparation of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Center for Molecular Catalysis, Korean Science and Engineering Foundation, Research Institute for Basic Sciences in Seoul National University, and the Ministry of Education in Korea.
