Kutluay SB, Bieniasz PD. Analysis of the initiating events in HIV-1 particle assembly and genome packaging.
PLoS Pathog 2010;
6:e1001200. [PMID:
21124996 PMCID:
PMC2987827 DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1001200]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2010] [Accepted: 10/19/2010] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
HIV-1 Gag drives a number of events during the genesis of virions and is the only viral protein required for the assembly of virus-like particles in vitro and in cells. Although a reasonable understanding of the processes that accompany the later stages of HIV-1 assembly has accrued, events that occur at the initiation of assembly are less well defined. In this regard, important uncertainties include where in the cell Gag first multimerizes and interacts with the viral RNA, and whether Gag-RNA interaction requires or induces Gag multimerization in a living cell. To address these questions, we developed assays in which protein crosslinking and RNA/protein co-immunoprecipitation were coupled with membrane flotation analyses in transfected or infected cells. We found that interaction between Gag and viral RNA occurred in the cytoplasm and was independent of the ability of Gag to localize to the plasma membrane. However, Gag:RNA binding was stabilized by the C-terminal domain (CTD) of capsid (CA), which participates in Gag-Gag interactions. We also found that Gag was present as monomers and low-order multimers (e.g. dimers) but did not form higher-order multimers in the cytoplasm. Rather, high-order multimers formed only at the plasma membrane and required the presence of a membrane-binding signal, but not a Gag domain (the CA-CTD) that is essential for complete particle assembly. Finally, sequential RNA-immunoprecipitation assays indicated that at least a fraction of Gag molecules can form multimers on viral genomes in the cytoplasm. Taken together, our results suggest that HIV-1 particle assembly is initiated by the interaction between Gag and viral RNA in the cytoplasm and that this initial Gag-RNA encounter involves Gag monomers or low order multimers. These interactions per se do not induce or require high-order Gag multimerization in the cytoplasm. Instead, membrane interactions are necessary for higher order Gag multimerization and subsequent particle assembly in cells.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) assembles at the plasma membrane of the infected host cell, resulting in the release of infectious virus particles. HIV assembly is directed by the viral structural protein, Gag that performs a number of functions including specific recruitment of viral genomic RNA and multimerization around this RNA to form a virus particle. However, it is currently not clear where in the cell these two key events, Gag-RNA interaction and Gag multimerization, are initiated and whether they are coordinated. In this study we provide strong evidence that recruitment of viral genomic RNA by Gag is initiated in the cytoplasm of the host cell. However, this interaction per se does not require or induce a high degree of Gag multimerization, as Gag is present as monomers or dimers in the cytoplasm. In contrast, plasma membrane seems to be the only site at which higher order Gag multimerization occurs. Notably, at least a fraction of the Gag dimers in the cytoplasm are bound to the viral RNA. These results provide deeper insights to our understanding of the molecular details of the initiating events in HIV-1 assembly, which are potential targets for development of new antiviral drugs.
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