Quantitative monitoring of the cytoplasmic release of NCp7 proteins from individual HIV-1 viral cores during the early steps of infection.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescence microscopy imaging of individual HIV-1 viruses necessitates a specific labeling of viral structures that minimally perturbs the infection process. Herein, we used HIV-1 pseudoviruses containing NCp7 fused to a tetracystein (TC) tag, labeled by a biarsenical fluorescein derivative (FlAsH) to quantitatively monitor the NCp7 protein concentration in the viral cores during the early stages of infection. Single particle imaging of individual pseudoviruses with defined ratios of TC-tagged to non tagged NCp7 proteins, together with theoretical modeling of energy transfer between FlAsH dyes, showed that the high packaging of TC-tagged proteins in the viral cores causes a strong fluorescence quenching of FlAsH and that the fluorescence intensity of individual viral complexes is an appr

SUBMITTER: Zgheib S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6353972 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature