early reverse transcription is essential for productive foamy virus infection早期反转录对生产泡沫病毒感染至关重要.pdfVIP

Early Reverse Transcription Is Essential for Productive Foamy Virus Infection 1 ´ 1 ¨ 1,2. 3 . Alessia Zamborlini , Noemie Renault , Ali Saıb , Olivier Delelis * ´ ´ 1 CNRS UMR7212, Inserm U944, Universite Paris Diderot, Institut Universitaire d’Hematologie, Paris, France, 2 Chaire de Biologie, Conservatoire National des Arts et ´ Metiers, Paris, France, 3 LBPA, CNRS, ENS de Cachan, Cachan, France Abstract Background: Although viral RNA constitutes the majority of nucleic acids packaged in virions, a late occurring step of reverse transcription leads to the presence of infectious viral cDNA in foamy virus particles. This peculiarity distinguishes them from the rest of the retroviral family. Principal Findings: To evaluate the respective contribution of these viral nucleic acids in the replication of foamy viruses, their fate was studied by real-time PCR and RT-PCR early after infection, in the presence or in the absence of AZT. We found that an early reverse transcription step, which occurs during the first hours post-entry, is absolutely required for productive infection. Remarkably, sensitivity to AZT can be counteracted by increasing the multiplicity of infection (moi). We also show that 2-LTR circular viral DNA, which appears as soon as four hours post-infection, is transcriptionally competent. Conclusion: Taken together, our data demonstrate that an early reverse transcription process, which takes place soon after viral entry, is indispensable for infectivity of FVs at low moi, when the amount of DNA-containing particles