Last unknown structure of HIV-1 solved, another step in efforts to disarm the AIDS virus

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) UAB researchers have solved the last unknown protein structure of HIV-1, the retrovirus that can cause AIDS. Knowledge of this structure, called the cytoplasmic tail of gp41 protein, will further explain how the virus infects human cells and how progeny viruses are assembled and released from infected cells. The cytoplasmic tail appears to play a key role in virus assembly to help incorporate the envelope spike structures into the surface of viral particles.
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news