Figure 3

Single-cycle infectivity assay of HIV-1 protease codon pair–recoded synthetic constructs. HIV-1 protease codon pair–recoded synthetic constructs (Figures 1 and 2) were introduced into the GFP reporter HIV-1 infectious clone pNL4-3-deltaE-EGFP. The replication capacities of the different protease constructs are represented as a percentage relative to the wild-type HIV-1 HXB2 strain (100%). The relative replication capacity of the virus was determined by measuring the amount of p24 antigen. A reduction in the production of p24 protein in the culture transfected with a HIV-1 clone carrying a deoptimized protease was observed. The reduction in p24 expression was not accompanied by a reduction in the production of gag RNA (Table 3).