Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

In vitro Uncoating of HIV-1 Cores
Published on: November 8, 2011
Continuum theory of retroviral capsids
T T Nguyen1, R F Bruinsma, W M Gelbart
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California at Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
Abstract:
We present a self-assembly phase diagram for the shape of retroviral capsids, based on continuum elasticity theory. The spontaneous curvature of the capsid proteins drives a weakly first-order transition from spherical to spherocylindrical shapes. The conical capsid shape which characterizes the HIV-1 retrovirus is never stable under unconstrained energy minimization. Only under conditions of fixed volume and/or fixed spanning length can the conical shape be a minimum energy structure. Our results indicate that, unlike the capsids of small viruses, retrovirus capsids are not uniquely determined by the molecular structure of the constituent proteins but depend in an essential way on physical constraints present during assembly.
Related Concept Videos
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Retroviruses
Size and Structure of Viral Genomes
Viral Structure
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers

