Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (HTLV-1 RT) (HTLV-1 RT)

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) reverse transcriptase is a viral enzyme essential for the replication of the HTLV-1 retrovirus, which causes lifelong infection in humans [1, 9]. It functions by transcribing the viral single-stranded RNA genome into double-stranded DNA, a prerequisite for the integration of the virus into the host cell's genome as a provirus [4, 13]. HTLV-1 primarily infects CD4+ T lymphocytes and is the causative agent of Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) [3, 11]. Although the enzyme is targeted by nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) such as zidovudine and tenofovir, these treatments often show limited efficacy in chronic infection because the virus predominantly maintains its presence through the clonal expansion of infected cells rather than active reverse transcription [5, 15, 17]. Consequently, reverse transcriptase inhibitors are typically used in combination with other therapies, such as interferon-alpha, to manage disease progression [7, 8]. Monitoring proviral load and reverse transcriptase activity is crucial for evaluating the clinical status and therapeutic response in HTLV-1-infected individuals [8, 14].

Other names

HTLV-1 RTHuman T-lymphotropic virus type 1 reverse transcriptaseRNA-directed DNA polymerasePol proteinHTLV-I reverse transcriptase

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that competitively inhibits the viral reverse transcriptase enzyme, leading to premature termination of the proviral DNA chain during synthesis [5, 8].