title: The effect of HIV-1 Gag myristoylation on membrane binding.
abstract: During the viral life cycle, an HIV protein, Gag, assembles at the host membrane, specifically at lipid raft regions, at very high concentrations leading to viral particle budding. Gag is post-translationally modified with an N-terminal myristate group which is thought to target Gag to lipid rafts thus aiding in assembly. Here we have analyzed the membrane binding of myristoylated HIV-1 Gag and a non-myristoylated form of HIV-1 Gag to various membrane models. After assessing the extent of myristoylation by HPLC and radiometric assays, we compared membrane binding using fluorescence methods. We found that myristoylated Gag shows a greater than twofold increase in binding affinity to model rafts. A structural model to explain these results is presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11796-8661, USA.
authors.forename: Paxton
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Provitera
authors.forename: Raafat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: El-Maghrabi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scarlata
mesh_terms: D001345:Autoradiography; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D009226:Myristates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015683:Gene Products, gag; D009226:Myristates