The Initial Step in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 GagProPol Processing Can Be Regulated by Reversible Oxidation

Abstract

We developed a system that can be used to study the first step in the cascade of HIV-1 GagProPol processing and show that reversible oxidation of cysteines of HIV-1 protease embedded in GagProPol can block this initial GagProPol autoprocessing. This type of regulation may be broadly applied to the majority of retroviruses.