The Nucleocapsid Region of HIV-1 Gag Cooperates with the PTAP and LYPXnL Late Domains to Recruit the Cellular Machinery Necessary for Viral Budding
2009

How HIV-1 Buds from Cells

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Author Information

Author(s): Vincent Dussupt, Melodi P. Javid, Georges Abou-Jaoudé, Joshua A. Jadwin, Jason de La Cruz, Kunio Nagashima, Fadila Bouamr, Michael H. Malim

Primary Institution: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Hypothesis

The Nucleocapsid region of HIV-1 Gag cooperates with the PTAP and LYPXnL late domains to recruit the cellular machinery necessary for viral budding.

Conclusion

The study shows that the Nucleocapsid region of Gag is crucial for HIV-1 release by interacting with cellular proteins involved in the budding process.

Supporting Evidence

  • HIV-1 release is mediated through two motifs in the p6 region of Gag, PTAP and LYPXnL.
  • The Nucleocapsid region of Gag binds the Bro1 domain of Alix, which is essential for recruiting host proteins necessary for HIV-1 release.
  • Over-expression of Bro1 can rescue the release of HIV-1 lacking both L domains.
  • Mutations in the Nucleocapsid that prevent Bro1-mediated rescue of virus egress can be corrected by linking to ESCRT machinery.

Takeaway

HIV-1 needs help from parts of its own proteins to escape from infected cells, and one of these parts is called the Nucleocapsid.

Methodology

The study involved experiments with HIV-1 Gag proteins, cellular protein interactions, and electron microscopy to observe viral budding.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.ppat.1000339

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