Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Determination of Molecular Structures of HIV Envelope Glycoproteins using Cryo-Electron Tomography and Automated Sub-tomogram Averaging
Published on: December 1, 2011
Structural biology of HIV
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA.
Abstract:
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genome encodes a total of three structural proteins, two envelope proteins, three enzymes, and six accessory proteins. Studies over the past ten years have provided high-resolution three-dimensional structural information for all of the viral enzymes, structural proteins and envelope proteins, as well as for three of the accessory proteins. In some cases it has been possible to solve the structures of the intact, native proteins, but in most cases structural data were obtained for isolated protein domains, peptidic fragments, or mutants. Peptide complexes with two regulatory RNA fragments and a protein complex with an RNA recognition/encapsidation element have also been structurally characterized. This article summarizes the high-resolution structural information that is currently available for HIV proteins and reviews current structure-function and structure-biological relationships.
Related Concept Videos
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Retroviruses
Leaky Scanning
Size and Structure of Viral Genomes
Viruses with RNA Genomes
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly

