title: Role of hydrophobic residues in the central ectodomain of gp41 in maintaining the association between human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein subunits gp120 and gp41.
abstract: The interaction between the gp120 and gp41 subunits of the human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein serves to stabilize the virion form of the complex and to transmit receptor-induced conformational changes in gp120 to trigger the membrane fusion activity of gp41. In this study, we used site-directed mutagenesis to identify amino acid residues in the central ectodomain of gp41 that contribute to the stability of the gp120-gp41 association. We identified alanine mutations at six positions, including four tryptophan residues, which result in mutant envelope glycoprotein complexes that fail to retain gp120 on the cell surface. These envelope glycoproteins readily shed their gp120 and are unable to mediate cell-cell fusion. These findings suggest an important role for the conserved bulky hydrophobic residues in stabilizing the gp120-gp41 complex.
authors.affiliation: Montana Biotechnology Center, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: York
authors.forename: Jack H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Nunberg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D015726:Giant Cells; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41