title: New insights into retroviral Gag-Gag and Gag-membrane interactions.
abstract: A critical aspect of viral replication is the assembly of virus particles, which are subsequently released as progeny virus. While a great deal of attention has been focused on better understanding this phase of the viral life cycle, many aspects of the molecular details remain poorly understood. This is certainly true for retroviruses, including that of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1; a lentivirus) as well as for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1; a deltaretrovirus). This review discusses the retroviral Gag protein and its interactions with itself, the plasma membrane and the role of lipids in targeting Gag to virus assembly sites. Recent progress using sophisticated biophysical approaches to investigate - in a comparative manner - retroviral Gag-Gag and Gag-membrane interactions are discussed. Differences among retroviruses in Gag-Gag and Gag-membrane interactions imply dissimilar molecular aspects of the viral assembly pathway, including the interactions of Gag with lipids at the membrane.
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 2Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: José O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Maldonado
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 3Pharmacology Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 4School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Joachim D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 2Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 5Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 2Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 3Pharmacology Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA ; 6Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Louis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Mansky
keywords: deltaretrovirus; lentivirus; multimerization; oligomerization; plasma membrane; spectroscopy