RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Nazari, Reza A1 Joshi, SadhnaYR 2008 T1 Exploring the potential of group II introns to inactivate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 JF Journal of General Virology, VO 89 IS 10 SP 2605 OP 2610 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.2008/004333-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB This study examined whether insertion of a mobile group II intron into infectious human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) provirus DNA could inhibit virus replication. Introns targeted against two sites within the integrase-coding region were used. The intron-inserted HIV-1 provirus DNA clones were isolated and tested for virus replication. Similar amounts of HIV-1 RNA, Gag protein and progeny virus were produced from HIV-1 provirus DNA and intron-inserted HIV-1 provirus DNA. However, when the progeny virus was tested for its infectivity, although the group II intron-inserted HIV-1 RNA was packaged and reverse-transcribed, the dsDNA failed to integrate, as expected in the absence of a functional integrase, and virus replication was aborted. These results demonstrate that group II introns can confer ‘complete’ inhibition of HIV-1 replication at the intended step and should be further exploited for HIV-1 gene therapy and other targeted genetic repairs., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.2008/004333-0