The capsid lattice engages a bipartite NUP153 motif to mediate nuclear entry of HIV-1 cores.

Increasing evidence has suggested that the HIV-1 capsid enters the nucleus in a largely assembled, intact form. However, not much is known about how the cone-shaped capsid interacts with the nucleoporins (NUPs) in the nuclear pore for crossing the nuclear pore complex. Here, we elucidate how NUP153 binds HIV-1 capsid by engaging the assembled capsid protein (CA) lattice.

Nuclear Import of HIV-1.

The delivery of the HIV-1 genome into the nucleus is an indispensable step in retroviral infection of non-dividing cells, but the mechanism of HIV-1 nuclear import has been a longstanding debate due to controversial experimental evidence. It was commonly believed that the HIV-1 capsid would need to disassemble (uncoat) in the cytosol before nuclear import because the capsid is larger than the central channel of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs); however, increasing evidence demonstrates that intact, or nearly intact, HIV-1 capsid passes through the NPC to enter the nucleus. With the protection of the capsid, the HIV-1 core completes reverse transcription in the nucleus and is translocated to the integration site.

Rapid, reliable, and reproducible cell fusion assay to quantify SARS-Cov-2 spike interaction with hACE2.

COVID-19 is a global crisis of unimagined dimensions. Currently, Remedesivir is only fully licensed FDA therapeutic. A major target of the vaccine effort is the SARS-CoV-2 spike-hACE2 interaction, and assessment of efficacy relies on time consuming neutralization assay.

A snapshot of HIV-1 capsid-host interactions.

From cellular deposition of the HIV-1 capsid to integration of the viral genome, the capsid constitutes a primary target of a variety of host proteins that work to either promote or inhibit HIV-1 infection. Successful progression of HIV-1 infection depends on interactions between the capsid and host factors involved in stability, cellular transport, nuclear import, and genome integration. The virus must also guard its reverse-transcribing genome inside the capsid from host restriction factors that bind the capsid and suppress infection.

Conservation and Divergence of the I-Domain Inserted into the Ubiquitous HK97 Coat Protein Fold in P22-Like Bacteriophages.

Despite very low sequence homology, the major capsid proteins of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) bacteriophages, some archaeal viruses, and the herpesviruses share a structural motif, the HK97 fold. Bacteriophage P22, a paradigm for this class of viruses, belongs to a phage gene cluster that contains three homology groups: P22-like, CUS-3-like, and Sf6-like. The coat protein of each phage has an inserted domain (I-domain) that is more conserved than the rest of the coat protein.

NMR assignments for the insertion domain of bacteriophage Sf6 coat protein.

The P22 bacteriophage group is a subgroup of the λ phage supercluster, comprised of the three major sequence types Sf6, P22, and CUS-3, based on their capsid proteins. Our goal is to investigate the extent to which structure-function relationships are conserved for the viral coat proteins and I-domains in this subgroup. Sf6 is a phage that infects the human pathogen Shigella flexneri.

NMR assignments for the insertion domain of bacteriophage CUS-3 coat protein.

CUS-3 is a P22-like tailed dsDNA bacteriophage that infects Escherichia coli serotype K1. The CUS-3 coat protein, which forms the icosahedral capsid, has a conserved HK97-fold but with a non-conserved accessory domain known as the insertion domain (I-domain). Sequence alignment of the coat proteins from CUS-3 and P22 shows higher sequence similarity for the I-domains (35 %) than for the HK97-cores, suggesting the I-domains play important functional roles.