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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

Visualization of HIV-1 Gag Binding to Giant Unilamellar Vesicle GUV Membranes
Published on: July 28, 2016
Lipid-protein interactions in virus assembly and budding from the host cell plasma membrane
Balindile B Motsa1, Robert V Stahelin1
1Department of Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology and the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, U.S.A.
Abstract:
Lipid enveloped viruses contain a lipid bilayer coat that protects their genome to help facilitate entry into the new host cell. This lipid bilayer comes from the host cell which they infect. After viral replication, the mature virion hijacks the host cell plasma membrane where it is then released to infect new cells. This process is facilitated by the interaction between phospholipids that make up the plasma membrane and specialized viral matrix proteins. This step in the viral lifecycle may represent a viable therapeutic strategy for small molecules that aim to block enveloped virus spread. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the role of plasma membrane lipid-protein interactions on viral assembly and budding.
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