Articles of Significant Interest in This Issue

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) exploits specialized microtubule (MT) plus-end tracking proteins (commonly known as +TIPs) to induce the formation of stable MTs soon after virus entry and to promote early stages of infection. Mitra et al. (e00404-20) found that distinct domains in cytoplasmic linker-associated protein 2 (CLASP2), a +TIP that captures cortical MT plus ends to enable filament stabilization, mediate interactions with incoming HIV-1 particles, and facilitate MT stabilization and trafficking of incoming cores. These findings identify a new +TIP that acts as a host cofactor to promote early stages of viral infection.