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Updated: Aug 11, 2025

Visualization of HIV-1 Gag Binding to Giant Unilamellar Vesicle GUV Membranes
Published on: July 28, 2016
Early HIV-1 Gag Assembly on Lipid Membrane with vRNA
Abstract:
Mass photometry (MP) was used to investigate the assembly of myristoylated full-length HIV-1 Gag (myr-Gag) and vRNA 5’ UTR fragment in a supported lipid bilayer (SLB) model system. The MP trajectories demonstrated that Gag trimerization on the membrane is a key step of early Gag assembly in the presence of vRNA. Growth of myr-Gag oligomers requires vRNA, occuring by addition of 1 or 2 monomers at a time from solution. These data support a model where formation of the Gag hexamers characteristic of the immature capsid lattice occurs by a gradual edge expansion, following a trimeric nucleation event. These dynamic single molecule data involving protein, RNA, and lipid components together, provide novel and fundamental insights into the initiation of virus capsid assembly.
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