Access

Article

Nature 441, 847-852 (15 June 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature04817; Received 8 March 2006; Accepted 24 April 2006; Published online 24 May 2006

Open Innovation Challenges

  • Methods to Analyze Consumer Emotions

    • Deadline: Jan 17 2010
    • Reward: $10,000 USD

    The Seeker is looking for methods to analyze consumer emotions. This Challenge requires only a writ...

  • Single-cell Analysis Platform

    • Deadline: Dec 02 2009
    • Reward: $5,000 USD

    This Challenge is looking for novel approaches to analyzing changes at a single-cell level. This is...

naturejobs

Distribution and three-dimensional structure of AIDS virus envelope spikes

Ping Zhu1, Jun Liu1, Julian Bess, Jr2, Elena Chertova2, Jeffrey D. Lifson2, Henry Grisé1, Gilad A. Ofek3, Kenneth A. Taylor1 & Kenneth H. Roux1

  1. Department of Biological Science and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
  2. AIDS Vaccine Program, SAIC Frederick Inc, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA
  3. Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA

Correspondence to: Kenneth H. Roux1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to K.H.R. (Email: roux@bio.fsu.edu).

Top

Envelope glycoprotein (Env) spikes on AIDS retroviruses initiate infection of host cells and are therefore targets for vaccine development. Though crystal structures for partial Env subunits are known, the structure and distribution of native Env spikes on virions is obscure. We applied cryoelectron microscopy tomography to define ultrastructural details of spikes. Virions of wild-type human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and a mutant simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) had approx14 and approx73 spikes per particle, respectively, with some clustering of HIV-1 spikes. Three-dimensional averaging showed that the surface glycoprotein (gp120) 'head' of each subunit of the trimeric SIV spike contains a primary mass, with two secondary lobes. The transmembrane glycoprotein 'stalk' of each trimer is composed of three independent legs that project obliquely from the trimer head, tripod-like. Reconciling available atomic structures with the three-dimensional whole spike density map yields insights into the orientation of Env spike structural elements and possible structural bases of their functions.

  1. Department of Biological Science and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
  2. AIDS Vaccine Program, SAIC Frederick Inc, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA
  3. Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA

Correspondence to: Kenneth H. Roux1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to K.H.R. (Email: roux@bio.fsu.edu).

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Structural biology Images from the surface of HIV

Nature News and Views (15 Jun 2006)

Evil versus 'eph-ective' use of ephrin-B2

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology News and Views (01 Jun 2008)