Structure and stoichiometry of template-directed recombinant HIV-1 Gag particles.

ABSTRACT: Size polydispersity of immature human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) particles represents a challenge for traditional methods of biological ultrastructural analysis. An in vitro model for immature HIV-1 particles constructed from recombinant Gag proteins lacking residues 16-99 and the p6 domain assembled around spherical nanoparticles functionalized with DNA. This template-directed assembly approach led to a significant reduction in size polydispersity and revealed previously unknown structural features of immature-like HIV-1 particles. Electron microscopy and image reconstruction of these particles suggest that the Gag shell formed from different protein regions that are connected by a "scar"-an extended defect connecting the edges of two continuous, regularly packed protein layers

SUBMITTER: Goicochea NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3140650 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature