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Related Experiment Videos

A stiffness switch in human immunodeficiency virus.

Nitzan Kol1, Yu Shi, Marianna Tsvitov

  • 1Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

Biophysical Journal
|December 13, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Immune deficiency virus (HIV) particles stiffen during budding and soften during maturation, a "stiffness switch" crucial for cell entry and infectivity. This mechanical change is key to understanding viral function.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other retroviruses mature post-budding, a process essential for infectivity.
  • Maturation involves significant morphological changes, altering particle structure and mechanical properties.
  • The physical principles governing viral maturation and cell entry are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanical properties of HIV particles during maturation.
  • To elucidate the role of the HIV envelope cytoplasmic tail domain in particle mechanics.
  • To establish a link between viral mechanical properties and infectivity.

Main Methods:

  • Nanoindentation experiments using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure HIV particle stiffness.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Finite element simulations to model the mechanical behavior of viral particles.
  • Correlation analysis between viral mechanical properties and cell entry efficiency.

    • Main Results:

    • Immature HIV particles are over 14-fold stiffer than mature particles.
    • The HIV envelope cytoplasmic tail domain significantly influences particle stiffness.
    • Deleting the cytoplasmic tail domain reduces Young's modulus by over eightfold (930 vs. 115 MPa).
    • A strong correlation exists between viral softening during maturation and enhanced cell entry.

    Conclusions:

    • HIV regulates its mechanical properties, exhibiting stiffness during budding and softness during entry.
    • This maturation-induced
    • stiffness switch" is vital for efficient viral infectivity.", "Viral mechanical properties play a prominent role in the infection process, offering new avenues for mechanistic studies."]}, Meta_Description=
    • stiffness switch" in HIV: Mechanical properties of immature vs. mature HIV particles measured by AFM reveal role in infectivity and cell entry.