Specific inhibition of the synthesis of human lysyl-tRNA synthetase results in decreases in tRNA(Lys) incorporation, tRNA(3)(Lys) annealing to viral RNA, and viral infectivity in human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

The major human tRNA(Lys) isoacceptors, and, are selectively packaged into human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) during assembly, where acts as a primer for reverse transcription. Lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) is also incorporated into HIV-1, independently of tRNA(Lys), via its interaction with Gag, and is a strong candidate for being the signal that specifically targets tRNA(Lys) for viral incorporation. We have transfected 293T cells with HIV-1 proviral DNA and short interfering RNA (siRNA) specific for LysRS to study the effect of diminished cellular LysRS upon tRNA(Lys) packaging, annealing to viral genomic RNA, and viral production and infectivity. At early time points after siRNA transfection, an 80% inhibition of LysRS incorporation into viruses reflects an 80% reduction of newly synthesized LysRS, rather than a more limited 20 to 25% decrease in the concentration of total cell LysRS, indicating that newly synthesized LysRS in the cell may be the main source of viral LysRS. Viruses produced from cells transfected with siRNA show reduced tRNA(Lys) packaging, reduced annealing to viral RNA, and reduced viral infectivity.