High-resolution HIV capsid structure map identified

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, November 22 (intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin) The British Electronic Bioimaging Center (eBIC) used new technologies of electron tomography and subpixel tomographic averaging to identify the HIV capsid protein, and its relationship with Composite structural image of host cytokine interactions at ~5.

HIV is a retrovirus whose RNA genome is encapsulated within a conical capsid, explained

However, due to the metastable nature of the HIV-1 capsid, isolating the quantity and concentration of intact native capsids suitable for high-resolution structural analysis has been challenging

After establishing the experimental method, the researchers investigated the interaction between the authentic HIV capsid and the cytokine cyclophilin A (CypA) and the small-molecule cofactor inositol hexaphosphate (IP6)

Using this new technique, the team revealed the structure of the HIV capsid, and its complex with CypA and IP6, respectively

Zhang Peijun, director of eBIC and professor of structural biology at Oxford University, who led the study, concluded that they used the information obtained by electron tomography to build an atomic model of the entire HIV capsid, which could serve as a "blueprint for the development of capsid-targeted anti-HIV drugs.

Editor-in-Chief

The capsid protein can be understood as the "invisibility cloak" of the virus, which can hide the information of the virus and protect the genetic material inside the virus