The nucleocapsid region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag assists in the coordination of assembly and Gag processing: role for RNA-Gag binding in the early stages of assembly.

ABSTRACT: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag-RNA interactions are required for virus assembly. However, our prior study found that a defect in particle production exhibited by an HIV-1 proviral mutant with a severe deletion in the RNA-binding nucleocapsid (NC) region of Gag, NX, could be reversed by eliminating its protease activity. While our follow-up study indicated that a secondary RNA-binding site in Gag can also provide the required RNA-binding function, how protease activity inhibits NX virion production is still unclear. Therefore, we tested three possible mechanisms: NX virions are unstable and fall apart after budding; NX Gag assembly is slowed, allowing protease processing to start before particle formation; or the protease region within NX Gag-Pol becomes activated premature

SUBMITTER: Ott DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2708646 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature