BIOCHEMICAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF THE REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE OF A HUMAN INTRACISTERNAL A-TYPE PARTICLE (HIAP)

The discovery of a novel human intracisternal A-type particle (HIAP) t hat may be associated with the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome h as been previously reported. Although the HIAP retrovirus has been sho wn to be antigenically related to HIV-1, the viruses mere distinguisha ble by different hydrodynamic mobilities through a sucrose gradient by morphology and intracellular location, and by differing divalent cati on requirements for their in vitro reverse transcriptase (RT) reaction s, In this report, additional biochemical characteristics are provide that further differentiate the HIAP RT from HIV-1 RT. Data are also pr esented that distinguish the HIAP RT from the known cellular DNA polym erases.