Immunoelectron microscopic evidence for Tetherin/BST2 as the physical bridge between HIV-1 virions and the plasma membrane.

ABSTRACT: Tetherin/BST2 was identified in 2008 as the cellular factor responsible for restricting HIV-1 replication at a very late stage in the lifecycle. Tetherin acts to retain virion particles on the plasma membrane after budding has been completed. Infected cells that express large amounts of tetherin display large strings of HIV virions that remain attached to the plasma membrane. Vpu is an HIV-1 accessory protein that specifically counteracts the restriction to virus release contributed by tetherin. Tetherin is an unusual Type II transmembrane protein that contains a GPI anchor at its C-terminus and is found in lipid rafts. The leading model for the mechanism of action of tetherin is that it functions as a direct physical tether bridging virions and the plasma membrane. However, evidence that

SUBMITTER: Hammonds J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2816691 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature