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Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I. Construction of a polA plasmid for amplification and an improved purification scheme.

Previous attempts to clone the Escherichia coli polA+ gene onto a high copy number plasmid were unsuccessful. The apparent lethality of unregulated overproduction of DNA polymerase I can be eliminated by cutting at a BglII site 100 nucleotides upstream from the ATG start codon of the polA gene. This permitted the construction of plasmid pMP5 which contains both the coding sequence for DNA polymerase I and the lambda pL promoter for conditional control of polA gene expression. BglII cutting only damages but does not eliminate the polA promoter activity; the BglII site thus lies within the polA promoter region. Leakiness of the damaged polA promoter results in overproduction of DNA polymerase I even under conditions where pL is fully repressed. This overproduction is inhibitory of cell growth, as reflected in both growth rate and in the frequency of appearance of mutant plasmids which are nonproducers of DNA polymerase I. Transformation of plasmid pMP5 into E. coli N4830 yields strain ATL100 which under inducing conditions provides 138-fold amplification of DNA polymerase I. Optimization of growth and expression conditions are presented together with an optimized rapid polymerase purification scheme. In addition to providing a convenient source for preparation of DNA polymerase I, this work serves as the basis for a future detailed molecular genetic analysis of the polA gene product.

Cloning, Molecular

An RNA pseudoknot and an optimal heptameric shift site are required for highly efficient ribosomal frameshifting on a retroviral messenger RNA.

Synthesis of the pol gene products of most retroviruses requires ribosomes to shift frame once or twice in the -1 direction while translating gag-pol mRNA. The viral signals for frameshifting include a heptanucleotide sequence on which the shift occurs and higher-order RNA structure just downstream of the shift site. We have made site-directed mutations in two stems (S1 and S2) of a putative RNA pseudoknot that begins 7 nucleotides 3' of the previously identified shift site (A AAA AAC) in the gag-pro region of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) RNA. The mutants confirm the predicted structure, show that loss of either S1 or S2 impairs frameshifting, and exclude alternative RNA structures as significant for frameshifting. The importance of the MMTV pseudoknot has been further demonstrated by showing that shift sites from two other retroviruses function more efficiently in the position of the MMTV site than in their native contexts. However, the MMTV pseudoknot cannot promote detectable frameshifting in the absence of a recognizable upstream shift site. In addition, the species of tRNA that reads the second codon in the shift site appears to be a critical determinant, since changing the 7th nucleotide in the MMTV gag-pro shift site from C to A, U, or G severely impairs frameshifting.

Base Sequence

On the accessibility and selection of the initiator site of mRNA in protein synthesis.

The specificity of the cell-free system of Escherichia coli for mRNA was examined, and the "accessibility" of some natural and synthetic RNAs to the ribosomes was determined by measurement of AcPhe-tRNA and fMet-tRNA binding, AcPhe-puromycin and fMet-puromycin formation, and polypeptide synthesis. The E. coli system effectively initiates the translation of various synthetic RNAs with AcPhe-tRNA or fMet-tRNA under conditions optimal for the translation of viral RNA. Poly(A,G,U) is accessible to the ribosomes according to all of the above criteria. Poly(A,C,G,U), 23 S rRNA, R17 RNA, and MS2 RNA, on the other hand, show limited accessibility when tested for initiator tRNA binding, or for AcPhe-puromycin and fMet-puromycin formation. MS2 and R17 RNA, but not poly(A,C,G,U) and 23 S rRNA, show accessibility when measured by polypeptide synthesis. The results suggest that, except at initiator sites of natural mRNA, an RNA containing about equal amounts of all four bases is inaccessible to E. coli ribosomes for polypeptide synthesis. Rate constants obtained for fMet-tRNA binding with MS2 RNA, poly(A,G,U), and poly(C,G,U) indicate that the ribosomes do not have any special affinity for the viral RNA. Thus, the selection of the initiator site in protein synthesis may be critically determined more by the accessibility of the initiator codon than by ribosomal recognition of the site.

Base Sequence

High-level expression in Escherichia coli of biologically active bovine growth hormone.

High-level synthesis of bovine growth hormone (bGH) in Escherichia coli was achieved by maximizing gene transcription and optimizing the translational efficiency of bGH mRNA. Nearly all of the recombinant hormone was found in the pellet fraction after bacterial cell lysis. This property allowed the purification of bGH nearly to homogeneity. Protein sequence analysis indicated that greater than 93% of the purified hormone had the amino-terminal methionine residue removed by E. coli, yielding mature bGH. In a hypophysectomized rat assay system, purified bacterial-produced bGH demonstrated growth-promoting activity equivalent to that of pituitary-derived bovine growth hormone.

Amino Acid Sequence

seq2ribo: structure-aware integration of machine learning and simulation to predict ribosome location profiles from RNA sequences.

MOTIVATION: Ribosome dynamics are vital in the process of protein expression. Current methods rely on ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq), RNA-seq profiles, and full genomic context. This restricts their use in de novo sequence design, like messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Simulation-only approaches like the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (TASEP) oversimplify translation by focusing solely on codon elongation times. RESULTS: We present seq2ribo, a hybrid simulation and machine learning framework that predicts ribosome A-site locations using only an mRNA sequence as input. Our method first employs a novel structure-aware TASEP (sTASEP), which models translation using a comprehensive set of fitted parameters that include codon wait times and structural features, such as local angles, base-pairing, and discrete positional buckets. The ribosome locations generated by sTASEP are then processed by a polisher model, which learns to refine the simulated ribosome distributions. seq2ribo provides high-fidelity predictions of ribosome locations across diverse cell types (iPSC, HEK293, LCL, and RPE-1), significantly outperforming baselines. seq2ribo is the first method to achieve meaningful positional correlation with observed ribosome profiles from sequence alone, reaching transcript-level Pearson correlations up to 0.920 and within-transcript shape correlations up to 0.186, where all baselines yield near-zero values on these metrics. seq2ribo also reduces elementwise error by up to 37.7% relative to the sequence-only Translatomer baseline. By adding a task-specific head, seq2ribo achieves Pearson correlations up to 0.732 with experimental translation efficiency (TE) across several cell lines, and up to 0.903 with measured protein expression. By operating from sequence alone, seq2ribo provides a new tool for synthetic biology, enabling the rational design and optimization of mRNA sequences without the need for expression-level data or genomic context. AVAILABILITY: seq2ribo is available at https://github.com/Kingsford-Group/seq2ribo.

Machine Learning

seq2ribo: Structure-aware integration of machine learning and simulation to predict ribosome location profiles from RNA sequences.

MOTIVATION: Ribosome dynamics are vital in the process of protein expression. Current methods rely on ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq), RNA-seq profiles, and full genomic context. This restricts their use in de novo sequence design, like messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Simulation-only approaches like the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (TASEP) oversimplify translation by focusing solely on codon elongation times. RESULTS: We present seq2ribo, a hybrid simulation and machine learning framework that predicts ribosome A-site locations using only an mRNA sequence as input. Our method first employs a novel structure-aware TASEP (sTASEP), which models translation using a comprehensive set of fitted parameters that include codon wait times and structural features, such as local angles, base-pairing, and discrete positional buckets. The ribosome locations generated by sTASEP are then processed by a polisher model, which learns to refine the simulated ribosome distributions. seq2ribo provides high-fidelity predictions of ribosome locations across diverse cell types (iPSC, HEK293, LCL, and RPE-1), significantly outperforming baselines. seq2ribo is the first method to achieve meaningful positional correlation with observed ribosome profiles from sequence alone, reaching transcript-level Pearson correlations up to 0.920 and within-transcript shape correlations up to 0.186, where all baselines yield near-zero values on these metrics. seq2ribo also reduces elementwise error by up to 37.7% relative to the sequence-only Translatomer baseline. By adding a task-specific head, seq2ribo achieves Pearson correlations up to 0.732 with experimental translation efficiency (TE) across several cell lines, and up to 0.903 with measured protein expression. By operating from sequence alone, seq2ribo provides a new tool for synthetic biology, enabling the rational design and optimization of mRNA sequences without the need for expression-level data or genomic context.

Journal Article

The relationship between the biosynthetic paths to the amino acids and their coding. I: The aliphatic amino acids and proline.

The genetic code could not have been fixed until the means for biosynthesis of the amino acids was at hand. The biosynthetic enzymes could not be optimized until the genetic code ceased to be rearranged. Therefore the development of the code and the development of the biosynthesis of the amino acids occurred concurrently. The present day biosynthetic pathways of amino acids, examined from this point of view, help to explain the present set of coded amino acids, in particular the absence of norvaline, norleucine, homoserine, ornithine, and alpha-aminobutyric acid. An order of development of biosyntheses is also proposed. Lysine was first, followed by valine and isoleucine. The more common primordial amino acids did not need biosyntheses so early. The central pathways of metabolism probably developed in response to a need for amino acid biosynthesis.

Amino Acids

Preferential ribosomal scanning is involved in the differential synthesis of the hepatitis B viral surface antigens from subgenomic transcripts.

The envelope of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is composed of three species of proteins, the large (L), middle (M), and major (S) surface proteins (HBsAgs), each of different molecular weights but sharing a common C-terminus. These three HBsAgs, encoded by two species of viral subgenomic transcripts (2.1 and 2.4 kb), which have a heterogenous 5'-terminus, appear in different amounts in both the 42-nm virions and the 22-nm subviral particles. To investigate the involvement of translational control in the differential expression of the L, M, and S proteins, we tested the translational capability of 2.1- and 2.4-kb transcripts in in vitro translation and of 2.1-kb transcripts in in vivo transfection experiments. Results of in vitro translation indicated that a large amount of the L protein and a very small amount of the M and S proteins were synthesized from the 2.4-kb mRNA. Translation of the 2.1-kb mRNA resulted in a 4:1 ratio of the S protein to the M protein. In contrast, translation of a similar 2.1-kb mRNA containing an optimal initiation context (5'-ACCATGG-3') of the pre-S2 region resulted in a reversed ratio, four times as much M protein as S protein. This result was also obtained by transfection of hepatoma cells with plasmid DNAs containing the mutated sequence (5'-ACCATGG-3') of the pre-S2 region. In considering these results, the production of a large amount of the L protein from the 2.4-kb mRNA and the determination of the level of the M protein by the context of translational initiation, we suggest that a preferential translational initiation is involved in the expression of differential amounts of the L, M, and S proteins.

Base Sequence

Molecular analysis of the Haemophilus ducreyi groE heat shock operon.

Chancroid is a sexually transmitted genital ulcer disease caused by Haemophilus ducreyi. Previously, we developed diagnostic DNA probes for H. ducreyi (L. M. Parsons, M. Shayegani, A. L. Waring, and L. H. Bopp, J. Clin. Microbiol. 27:1441-1445, 1989). In the present study, DNA sequencing of one of the diagnostic probes revealed two adjacent open reading frames (ORFs). These H. ducreyi ORFs and the encoded proteins show significant homology with the groE genes and GroES and GroEL heat shock proteins from several bacterial pathogens and with conserved eukaryotic 60-kDa heat shock proteins. The first H. ducreyi ORF (groES) is preceded by sequences similar to those of the Escherichia coli consensus heat shock promoters and is 288 nucleotides long and is capable of encoding a protein of 10.3 kDa. The second ORF (groEL) is 1,641 nucleotides long and is capable of encoding a protein of 57.8 kDa. Northern (RNA blot) analysis demonstrated the presence of a high level of groE mRNA in exponential-phase H. ducreyi grown in hemin broth at the organism's optimal growth temperature (33 degrees C), with increased levels seen following heat shock. Heat shock also increased the thermostability of the organisms, since stressed cells were more resistant to the lethal effects of rapid chilling. Electrophoretic analysis and immunoblots demonstrated that the predominant protein produced by exponential-phase H. ducreyi was a heat-inducible, immunoreactive protein of approximately 60 kDa (GroEL). Also, H. ducreyi groE mRNA and GroEL were expressed and inducible by heat in E. coli. This is the first report describing the cloning, sequencing, and expression of H. ducreyi protein-encoding genes.

Amino Acid Sequence

Memory T cells of a patient with follicular thyroid carcinoma recognize peptides derived from mutated p21 ras (Gln-->Leu61).

Point mutations in ras genes resulting in substitutions of amino acid Gly in positions 12 and 13, and Gln in position 61 of the ras gene product p21, are commonly found in human tumors. Peptides derived from aberrant p21 may elicit a tumor specific T cell response, provided that these peptides can bind to HLA molecules of the tumor and the patient has T cells able to recognize the corresponding peptide-HLA complex. Here we report that CD4+ T cells of memory type (CD45RO+) from a patient with a follicular thyroid carcinoma respond against a synthetic peptide derived from aberrant p21 ras having a Gln-->Leu substitution at position 61. Such responses were not observed when T cells from healthy volunteers or cancer patients where this mutation does not usually occur were stimulated with this peptide. The responding T cells did not cross-react with the corresponding peptide derived from native p21 ras nor did they recognize peptides carrying other substitutions in position 61. T cells clones were generated which recognized this Leu61 peptide when presented by HLA-DQ8 molecules. These T cell clones also recognized the corresponding intact p21 ras protein. By using several different synthetic peptides, a peptide with optimal stimulatory capacity was defined. Performing polymerase chain reaction and oligonucleotide probing we were, however, not able to detect the p21 ras gene encoding the Gln-->Leu substitution in DNA from tumor biopsies from the patient. This may indicate that tumor cells harboring the mutation leading to the Gln-->Leu substitution had been eliminated and that tumor progression was due to cells that had deleted the mutated ras gene. The finding that ras derived peptides and recombinant mutated p21 ras are immunogenic in man may form the basis for the development of cancer immunotherapy based on synthetic oncogene derived peptides.

Adenocarcinoma

The involvement of the anticodon adjacent modified nucleoside N-(9-(BETA-D-ribofuranosyl) purine-6-ylcarbamoyl)-threonine in the biological function of E. coli tRNAile.

tRNAile was isolated from E. coli Cp 79 (leu-, arg-, thr-, his-, thiamin-, RCrel) which had been grown on a sub-optimal concentration of thr and was found to contain an average of 50% less N-[9-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)- purin-6-ylcarbamoyl]threonine, t6Ado, than tRNAile from cells grown on an optimum concentration of thr and containing a normal complement of t6Ado. The two tRNA's were identical in their ability to be aminoacylated, to accept the 3'-terminal dinucleotide, and to form an ile-tRNAile-Tu-GTP complex. In contrast, the t6Ado-deficient-tRNA was significantly less efficient in binding to ribosomes compared to the normal tRNA. This difference was seen in the binding of deacylated tRNA and in the nonenzymatic and enzymatic binding of ile-tRNA, all in response to poly AUC. The t6Ado-deficient ile-tRNA demonstrated no binding at Mg2+ concentrations less than or equal to 10 mM, while the normal ile-tRNA bound at low Mg2+ concentrations. Tetracycline had the same effect on the normal as on the t6Ado-deficient ile-tRNA binding. As a control, the binding of phe-tRNA (which does not contain t6Ado) from normal and thr-starved cells in response to poly U was identical. It was concluded that t6Ado is required for proper codon-anticodon interaction.

Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases

Analysis of Fc gamma RIII (CD16) membrane expression and association with CD3 zeta and Fc epsilon RI-gamma by site-directed mutation.

Two genes encode Fc gamma RIII (CD16), a low affinity FcR for IgG. CD16-I is expressed as a phosphatidylinositol glycan-anchored membrane glycoprotein on neutrophils, whereas CD16-II is a transmembrane-linked glycoprotein on NK cells. Membrane anchoring is determined by codon 203. Site-directed mutation of codon 203 and transient expression of these cDNA in COS-7 cells indicated that Phe, Ile, Leu, and Val permit transmembrane expression, whereas Ser, Thr, Tyr, Asn, Gly, Ala, Asp and Lys enable phosphatidylinositol-glycan attachment. Thus, the involvement of amino acid 203 in membrane anchoring cannot be explained simply on the basis of size, charge, or polarity of the amino acid side groups at this site. Efficient expression of CD16-II in COS-7 cells requires co-transfection with either CD3 zeta or Fc epsilon RI-gamma. Truncation of the cytoplasmic segment of CD16 failed to affect association with CD3 zeta. CD3 zeta and Fc epsilon RI-gamma with truncated cytoplasmic segments were also able to facilitate membrane expression of CD16-II, implicating the transmembrane segments as the interaction site between CD16-II and CD3 zeta or Fc epsilon RI-gamma. Prior studies have suggested that the acidic residue in the CD3 zeta transmembrane segment may be important for the association of CD3 zeta complexes. Although site-directed mutation of CD3 zeta-Asp36 to Glu, Leu, or Val retained the ability to permit membrane expression of CD16-II, quantitatively the wild-type CD3 zeta-Asp36 provided optimal levels of expression, consistent with conservation of this amino acid in mouse and human CD3 zeta.

Antigens, CD

A method of estimating from two aligned present-day DNA sequences their ancestral composition and subsequent rates of substitution, possibly different in the two lineages, corrected for multiple and parallel substitutions at the same site.

The course of evolutionary change in DNA sequences has been modeled as a Markov process. The Markov process was represented by discrete time matrix methods. The parameters of the Markov transition matrices were estimated by least-squares direct-search optimization of the fit of the calculated divergence matrix to that observed for two aligned sequences. The Markov process corrected for multiple and parallel substitutions of bases at the same site. The method avoided the incorrect assumption of all previously described methods that the divergence between two present-day sequences is twice the divergence of either from the common and unknown ancestral sequence. The three previous methods were shown to be equivalent. The present method also avoided the undesirable assumptions that sequence composition has not changed with time and that the substitution rates in the two descendant lineages were the same. It permitted simultaneous estimation of ancestral sequence composition and, if applicable, of different substitution rates for the two descendant lineages, provided the total number of estimated parameters was less than 16. Properties of the Markov chain were discussed. It was proved for symmetric substitution matrices that all elements of the equilibrium divergence matrix equal 1/16, and that the total difference in the divergence matrix at epoch k equals the total change in the common substitution matrix at epoch 2k for all values of k. It was shown how to resolve an ambiguity in the assignment of two different substitution rates to the two descendant lineages when four or more similar sequences are available. The method was applied to the divergence matrix for codon site 3 for the mouse and rabbit beta-globins. This observed divergence matrix was significantly asymmetric and required at least two different substitution rates. This result could be achieved only by using different asymmetric substitution matrices for the two lineages.

Animals

Genetics and molecular biology of haemophilias A and B.

The development of rapid procedures for the characterization of mutations is advancing the knowledge of the molecular biology of the haemophilias and transforming the strategies for the diagnoses required for genetic counselling. In haemophilia B more than 300 mutants have been fully characterized. These comprise complete and partial deletions, rare insertions, and 'point' mutations. The latter may impair transcription (promoter mutations), RNA processing (splicing mutations) and translation (frameshifts and stop codons) or cause single amino acid (aa) changes. Eighty-four residues are involved in the 105 presumed detrimental aa substitutions reported so far and these are usually conserved in the factor IX homologues (factors VII, X and protein C) and/or the factor IX of different mammalian species. There are clear correlations between the mutation and clinical features. In addition mutations causing gross physical or functional loss of coding information appear to predispose to the development of antibodies against therapeutic factor IX. Hotspots of mutations have been identified and are usually associated with CpG sequences. In haemophilia A the size and complexity of the factor VIII gene has hindered the analysis of mutants. Most of the studies published so far have analysed only a small fraction of the essential region of the factor VIII gene and this led to the repeated observation of specific types of mutation. The recent development of a rapid method to analyse RNA splicing and the whole coding region of the factor VIII gene should unblock this situation. With regard to genetic counselling, the direct detection of gene defects has increased the proportion of haemophilia B families that can be helped from 60% to virtually 100% and similar expectations may now be formulated for haemophilia A. In the UK a national database of haemophilia B mutations is being constructed to optimize genetic counselling. This should offer a model for a similar development in haemophilia A.

DNA Mutational Analysis

Assessment of protein coding measures.

A number of methods for recognizing protein coding genes in DNA sequence have been published over the last 13 years, and new, more comprehensive algorithms, drawing on the repertoire of existing techniques, continue to be developed. To optimize continued development, it is valuable to systematically review and evaluate published techniques. At the core of most gene recognition algorithms is one or more coding measures--functions which produce, given any sample window of sequence, a number or vector intended to measure the degree to which a sample sequence resembles a window of 'typical' exonic DNA. In this paper we review and synthesize the underlying coding measures from published algorithms. A standardized benchmark is described, and each of the measures is evaluated according to this benchmark. Our main conclusion is that a very simple and obvious measure--counting oligomers--is more effective than any of the more sophisticated measures. Different measures contain different information. However there is a great deal of redundancy in the current suite of measures. We show that in future development of gene recognition algorithms, attention can probably be limited to six of the twenty or so measures proposed to date.

Algorithms

A strategy to optimize translation initiation in recombinant mRNA: application to the Rop gene.

Using the Escherichia coli Rop gene, we demonstrate a strategy that could be applied generally to optimize the initiation of translation of recombinant genes in E. coli. This involves cloning of the gene encoding the protein of interest in a suitable expression vector between an "efficient" ribosome binding site and the gene for the alpha-peptide of beta-galactosidase. By oligonucleotide-directed deletion mutagenesis, the two coding sequences are then fused in the correct frame. A second oligonucleotide is then used to place the initiator AUG (or GUG) at the correct distance from the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. In this step, however, we use an oligonucleotide that has a degenerate sequence. That is, on the basis of the "efficient" ribosome binding site sequence, we introduce random substitutions at various positions, both upstream and downstream from the initiator ATG, to obtain, after the mutagenesis experiment, a collection of random ribosome binding sites fused to the coding sequence. The development of blue colonies on indicator plates permits selection of clones in which an efficient ribosome binding site has been created for the specific gene of interest. We discuss the results obtained by applying the method to the Rop gene.

Bacterial Proteins

Genomic characterization of avian metapneumovirus subtypes A and B in United States poultry by targeted amplicon sequencing.

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) subtypes A and B emerged in United States poultry in late 2023 and early 2024, prompting genome-scale surveillance from clinical samples. Here, we developed and optimized targeted amplicon sequencing (TAS) assays for both subtypes and applied them to 104 subtype-positive clinical samples collected from chicken and turkey farms across nine US states between early 2024 and early 2026. TAS recovered 91 genomes suitable for comparative analysis, including 44 aMPV-A and 47 aMPV-B sequences, with successful recovery extending to Ct values of 34.6 for aMPV-A and 31.2 for aMPV-B. Recovered genomes showed near-complete breadth and high mapping efficiency. Phylogenetic analyses of both G-gene and whole-genome datasets showed that US aMPV-A field strains formed a distinct monophyletic lineage within group IV and resolved into three closely related clusters. Cluster 2, first recognized in North Carolina and later detected in Ohio, spread across 30 turkey and chicken farms. Cluster 2 genomes were defined by a concentrated G-protein hotspot within residues 209-275, and most North Carolina Cluster 2 genomes carried 10-11 nonsynonymous substitutions in this region, including multiple proline substitutions suggestive of local structural change. Missouri Cluster 3 remained cohesive but distinct from both Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 in the G-gene and whole-genome trees. In contrast, US aMPV-B field strains remained highly homogeneous across hosts and states, with more than 99% nucleotide identity by both G-gene and WGS analyses. We also identified 12 vaccine-derived genomes on both vaccinated and nonvaccinated farms. These included six genomes related to aMPV-A vaccine and six related to aMPV-B vaccines (VCO3/50 and 1062), all of which retained vaccine-defining markers together with additional substitutions consistent with continued circulation after vaccine use in the field. Selection analyses showed that the G gene had the highest gene-wise dN/dS ratio in both subtypes. Additional elevated signal was observed in SH and M2, and candidate positively or episodically selected codons were concentrated in the subtype A Cluster 2 G-gene hotspot. These findings show that TAS supports direct-from-sample aMPV genomic surveillance and provides genomic context for field clusters, vaccine-derived lineages, and continued adaptive change in aMPV in US poultry.

Animals

Two-drug combinations of zidovudine, didanosine, and recombinant interferon-alpha A inhibit replication of zidovudine-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 synergistically in vitro.

Optimal management of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections may require combinations of anti-HIV-1 agents. Zidovudine (AZT, 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine), didanosine (ddI, 2',3'-dideoxyinosine), and recombinant interferon-alpha A (rIFN-alpha A) were evaluated in two-drug regimens against replication of AZT-resistant HIV-1 in vitro. AZT-sensitive and AZT-resistant isolate pairs derived from two individuals before and after extended AZT monotherapy were studied. Drug interactions using peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with HIV-1 were evaluated mathematically. Synergistic interactions were seen among AZT, ddI, and rIFN-alpha A in two-drug regimens against AZT-resistant HIV-1 in vitro, even when AZT was included in the treatment regimen. Mixtures of wild-type and mutant reverse transcriptase genes were found in one of the late-AZT therapy isolates, suggesting that the mechanism of synergy of AZT-containing regimens may involve inhibition of AZT-sensitive viruses in the viral pool. These studies suggest that AZT may be useful in drug combination regimens, even when AZT-resistant viruses are isolated in vitro.

Base Sequence