Abstract
The HIV-1 assembly process is a multi-complex mechanism that takes place at the host cell plasma membrane. It requires a spatio-temporal coordination of events to end up with a full mature and infectious virus. The molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 assembly have been extensively studied during the past decades, in order to dissect the respective roles of the structural and non-structural viral proteins of the viral RNA genome and of some host cell factors. Nevertheless, the time course of HIV-1 assembly was observed in living cells only a decade ago. The very recent revolution of optical microscopy, combining high speed and high spatial resolution, in addition to improved fluorescent tags for proteins, now permits study of HIV-1 assembly at the single molecule level within living cells. In this review, after a short description of these new approaches, we will discuss how HIV-1 assembly at the cell plasma membrane has been revisited using advanced super resolution microscopy techniques and how it can bridge the study of viral assembly from the single molecule to the entire host cell.
Highlights
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an enveloped single stranded dimeric (+)RNA virus belonging to the family Lentiviridae
HIV is the causative agent of acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS), estimated to have infected 70 million people since the first reported case, with 37 million people currently infected worldwide
The mature HIV-1 particle is 80–150 nm in diameter size [16,17,18] and the assembly site is below the resolution limit of conventional optical microscopy methods
Summary
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an enveloped single stranded dimeric (+)RNA virus belonging to the family Lentiviridae. The viral RNA genome is packaged as a dimer into the forming particle. Concomitant to the particle release, post-cleavage of the structural Gag proteins by the viral protease occurs to give rise to its mature form, where a large structural rearrangement of the viral particle renders it infectious (for general reviews, see [1,2]). 3000 Gag polyproteins assemble to form a single immature capsid shell [3]. Gag–Gag interactions and NC is required for viral genomic RNA packaging, as well as non-specific interactions with RNA [14], and is essential for particle assembly [15]. Gag is the only viral protein required for assembly and release of immature viral particles in cells, production of infectious viruses requires other viral proteins, the Env proteins and the genomic RNA
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