@article{DeNicola2016, abstract = {AbstractThe long terminal repeat (LTR) of the proviral human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 genome is integral to virus transcription and host cell infection. The guanine-rich U3 region within the LTR promoter, previously shown to form G-quadruplex structures, represents an attractive target to inhibit HIV transcription and replication. In this work, we report the structure of a biologically relevant G-quadruplex within the LTR promoter region of HIV-1. The guanine-rich sequence designated LTR-IV forms a well-defined structure in physiological cationic solution. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure of this sequence reveals a parallel-stranded G-quadruplex containing a single-nucleotide thymine bulge, which participates in a conserved stacking interaction with a neighboring single-nucleotide adenine loop. Transcription analysis in a HIV-1 replication competent cell indicates that the LTR-IV region may act as a modulator of G-quadruplex formation in the LTR promoter. Consequently, the LTR-IV G-quadruplex structure presented within this work could represent a valuable target for the design of HIV therapeutics.}, author = {DeNicola, B. and De Nicola, Beatrice and Lech, Christopher J. and Heddi, Brahim and Regmi, Sagar and Frasson, Ilaria and Perrone, Rosalba and Richter, Sara N. and Phan, Anh Tuân}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkw432}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, month = {jun}, pages = {6442-6451}, title = {Structure and possible function of a G-quadruplex in the long terminal repeat of the proviral HIV-1 genome}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw432}, volume = {44}, year = {2016} }