HIV-1 nuclear import is selective and depends on both capsid elasticity and nuclear pore adaptability.

ABSTRACT: Lentiviruses, such as HIV-1, infect non-dividing cells by traversing the nuclear pore complex (NPC); however, the detailed molecular processes remain unclear. Here we reconstituted functional HIV-1 nuclear import using permeabilized T cells and isolated HIV-1 cores, which significantly increases import events, and developed an integrated three-dimensional cryo-correlative workflow to specifically target and image 1,489 native HIV-1 cores at 4 distinct nuclear import stages using cryo-electron tomography. We found HIV-1 nuclear import depends on both capsid elasticity and nuclear pore adaptability. The NPC acts as a selective filter, preferentially importing smaller cores, while expanding and deforming to accommodate their passage. Brittle mutant cores fail to enter the NPC, while CPSF6-bin

SUBMITTER: Hou Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12313523 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature