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Journal of Virology, April 2005, p. 5142-5152, Vol. 79, No. 8
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.8.5142-5152.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Peptide Pertaining to the Loop Segment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus gp41 Binds and Interacts with Model Biomembranes: Implications for the Fusion Mechanism

Roberto Pascual, Miguel R. Moreno, and José Villalaín*

Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad "Miguel Hernández," Elche-Alicante, Spain

Received 24 August 2004/ Accepted 5 November 2004

The human immunodeficiency virus gp41 envelope protein mediates the entry of the virus into the target cell by promoting membrane fusion. In order to gain new insights into the viral fusion mechanism, we studied a 35-residue peptide pertaining to the loop domain of gp41, both in solution and membrane bound, by using infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy. We show here that the peptide, which has a membrane-interacting surface, binds and interacts with phospholipid model membranes and tends to aggregate in the presence of a membranous medium and induce the leakage of vesicle contents. The results reported in this work, i.e., the destabilization and fusion of negatively charged model membranes, suggest an essential role of the loop domain in the membrane fusion process induced by gp41.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad "Miguel Hernández," E-03202 Elche-Alicante, Spain. Phone: 34 966 658 762. Fax: 34 966 658 758. E-mail: jvillalain{at}umh.es.

Journal of Virology, April 2005, p. 5142-5152, Vol. 79, No. 8
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.79.8.5142-5152.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Lu, L., Zhu, Y., Huang, J., Chen, X., Yang, H., Jiang, S., Chen, Y.-H. (2008). Surface Exposure of the HIV-1 Env Cytoplasmic Tail LLP2 Domain during the Membrane Fusion Process: INTERACTION WITH gp41 FUSION CORE. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 16723-16731 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Perez-Berna, A. J., Guillen, J., Moreno, M. R., Bernabeu, A., Pabst, G., Laggner, P., Villalain, J. (2008). Identification of the Membrane-active Regions of Hepatitis C Virus p7 Protein: BIOPHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LOOP REGION. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 8089-8101 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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