This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JVI.02666-07v1 82/11/5417    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Shang, L. Articles by Hunter, E. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shang, L. Articles by Hunter, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, June 2008, p. 5417-5428, Vol. 82, No. 11
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.02666-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of the Membrane-Spanning Domain of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Envelope Glycoprotein in Cell-Cell Fusion and Virus Infection

Emory Vaccine Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329

Received 16 December 2007/ Accepted 12 March 2008

The membrane-spanning domain (MSD) of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp41 glycoprotein is critical for its biological activity. Previous C-terminal truncation studies have predicted an almost invariant core structure of 12 amino acid residues flanked by basic amino acids in the HIV-1 MSD that function to anchor the glycoprotein in the lipid bilayer. To further understand the role of specific amino acids within the MSD core, we initially replaced the core region with 12 leucine residues and then constructed recovery-of-function mutants in which specific amino acid residues (including a GGXXG motif) were reintroduced. We show here that conservation of the MSD core sequence is not required for normal expression, processing, intracellular transport, and incorporation into virions of the envelope glycoprotein (Env). However, the amino acid composition of the MSD core does influence the ability of Env to mediate cell-cell fusion and plays a critical role in the infectivity of HIV-1. Replacement of conserved amino acid residues with leucine blocked virus-to-cell fusion and subsequent viral entry into target cells. This restriction could not be released by C-terminal truncation of the gp41 glycoprotein. These studies imply that the highly conserved core residues of the HIV Env MSD, in addition to serving as a membrane anchor, play an important role in mediating membrane fusion during viral entry.

Published ahead of print on 19 March 2008.