title: The frantic play of the concealed HIV envelope cytoplasmic tail.
abstract: Lentiviruses have unusually long envelope (Env) cytoplasmic tails, longer than those of other retroviruses. Whereas the Env ectodomain has received much attention, the gp41 cytoplasmic tail (gp41-CT) is one of the least studied parts of the virus. It displays relatively high conservation compared to the rest of Env. It has been long established that the gp41-CT interacts with the Gag precursor protein to ensure Env incorporation into the virion. The gp41-CT contains distinct motifs and domains that mediate both intensive Env intracellular trafficking and interactions with numerous cellular and viral proteins, optimizing viral infectivity. Although they are not fully understood, a multiplicity of interactions between the gp41-CT and cellular factors have been described over the last decade; these interactions illustrate how Env expression and incorporation into virions is a finely tuned process that has evolved to best exploit the host system with minimized genetic information. This review addresses the structure and topology of the gp41-CT of lentiviruses (mainly HIV and SIV), their domains and believed functions. It also considers the cellular and viral proteins that have been described to interact with the gp41-CT, with a particular focus on subtype-related polymorphisms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Retrovirology, CRP-Santé, 184 Val Fleuri, Luxembourg, L-1526.
authors.forename: Eveline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Santos da Silva
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulinge
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perez Bercoff
mesh_terms: D006678:HIV / Q000502:physiology*; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021381:Protein Transport; D019065:Virus Assembly; D014779:Virus Replication; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus