Chromosomal integration of LTR-flanked DNA in yeast expressing HIV-1 integrase: Down regulation by RAD51

HIV-1 integrase (IN) is the key enzyme catalyzing the proviral DNA integration step. Although the enzyme catalyzes the integration step accurately in vitro, whether IN is sufficient for in vivo integration and how it interacts with the cellular machinery remains unclear. We set up a yeast cellular integration system where integrase was expressed as the sole HIV-1 protein and targeted the chromosomes. In this simple eukaryotic model, integrase is necessary and sufficient for the insertion of a DNA containing viral LTRs into the genome, thereby allowing the study of the isolated integration step independently of other viral mechanisms. Furthermore, the yeast system was used to identify cellular mechanisms involved in the integration step and allowed us to show the role of homologous recombination systems. We demonstrated physical interactions between HIV-1 IN and RAD51 protein and showed that HIV-1 integrase activity could be inhibited both in the cell and in vitro by RAD51 protein. Our data allowed the identification of RAD51 as a novel in vitro IN cofactor able to down regulate the activity of this retroviral enzyme, thereby acting as a potential cellular restriction factor to HIV infection.