Retroviral Integration
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "General Virology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8956
Special Issue Editors
Interests: HIV; retrovirus; integrase; integration; CRISPR; chromatin
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: retrovirus-host interactions; innate immune response against retrovirus infection; molecular mechanisms of lentiviral restriction in non-human primates; SHIV/Macaque models of HIV-1 infection; HIV-1 transmission and pathogenesis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Integration is a defining feature of the retroviral life cycle. Retroviral integrases catalyze the covalent joining of reverse-transcribed viral DNA to the host genome. Major consequences of integration are the ability of the virus to remain latent for an extended period of time and the inability to cure patients infected with HIV-1 or HTLV-1. Advances in the purification and assembly of integrases from multiple retroviral genera have revealed that these proteins form a variety of multimeric complexes ranging from the prototype foamy virus tetramer to the Maedi visna virus dodecamer. Integrase-interacting host factors that tether viral integration complexes to chromatin and determine integration site selectivity have been identified for multiple retroviruses. The biological significance of integrase–host factor interactions is best highlighted by the use of murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based gene therapy vectors that led to leukemia in several children, which were treated to rectify primary immunodeficiencies. Tumorigenesis was due to MLV vector integration near the promoters of oncogenes and the subsequent insertional activation of oncogenes. This integration site preference is driven by the MLV integrase binding to its host factor, the BET family of proteins (Brd2, 3 and 4) that bind chromatin at promoter regions. Novel anti-retroviral therapeutics target integrase catalytic function, multimerization, and interaction with host factors. Understanding the fundamentals of integration processes and the structure/function of integrases is critical for the development of anti-retroviral therapies as well as safer gene-therapy vectors.
In this Special Issue, we invite research papers and review articles focused on all aspects of retroviral integration. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: structure/function studies of integrase, integrase host factors, trafficking of integration complexes, integration site selection, anti-retroviral inhibitors targeting integration (not limited to integrase inhibitors), latency, and the development of retroviral vectors.
Dr. Kristine Yoder
Dr. Amit Sharma
Guest Editors
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