Common principles and intermediates of viral protein-mediated fusion: the HIV-1 paradigm.

ABSTRACT: Enveloped viruses encode specialized fusion proteins which promote the merger of viral and cell membranes, permitting the cytosolic release of the viral cores. Understanding the molecular details of this process is essential for antiviral strategies. Recent structural studies revealed a stunning diversity of viral fusion proteins in their native state. In spite of this diversity, the post-fusion structures of these proteins share a common trimeric hairpin motif in which the amino- and carboxy-terminal hydrophobic domains are positioned at the same end of a rod-shaped molecule. The converging hairpin motif, along with biochemical and functional data, implies that disparate viral proteins promote membrane merger via a universal "cast-and-fold" mechanism. According to this model, fusion prote

SUBMITTER: Melikyan GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2633019 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature