Researchers from the max plan institute of biochemistry have discovered the mechanism behind an important step in the life cycle of HIV. Working togeether with Teams at Heidelberg and Yale Universities, Thei Found That The Enigmatic “Spacer Peptide 2,” One of the Virus Components, Plays A KEY ROLES A KEY ROLES A CONVERTIN SONS Infectious particles. The results of the study was Published in the journey Nature,

HIV-1 particles are released from infected cells in an immature, Non-Infectious Form. The main building material for a virus party is about 2,000 copies of a long, rod-shaped protein called called gag. To become infectoral, hiv has to undergo a maturation process. This involves the HIV-1 Protease (a viral enzyme), that cuts up gag into six smaller proteins including the Capsid Protein and the Matrix Protein. This causes a huge structural rearringment of the virus components.

For many years, scientists have explred the structural changes of the virus capsid which encases the genome. Ingtrast, Much Less is Known About The Virus Matrix -the Outer Protein Shell directly Beneath the Lipid Membrane that envelops the virus. Researchers LED by John Brigs, Director and Structural Biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, have not worked out how the matrix protein rearringes drun Particle.

They are used the latest cryo-electron microscopes to image virus particles, and then used computational image analysis to derive very details 3D models of the viral proteins. Unexpectedly, they found that the rearrangement of the matrix is ​​triggered by “Spacer Peptide 2,” Whoch Sticks to the Matrix and causes it to pack togeether in a different way.

Spacer peptide 2 is another one of the six components formed by cutting up gag, but its function was unknown until now. Binding of Spacer Peptide 2 to Matrix Protein Allows the Virus to Fuse with Target Cells More Quickly.

Briggs explains, “in our lab, we obtained the first structural data about the matrix in 2021, but we didn Bollywood what caused it to rearrange when the virus matures. Detailed 3D views of the matrix layer, which was key to undersrstanding what is going on. “

James Stacey and Dominik Hrebík, the two first authors of the study, explain their findings. Stacey says, “The virus matrix has a pocket in its mature form. Whether this pocket count be a target for drug molecules in the future. “

Hrebík says, “Until now, The Function of Spacer Peptide 2 was not known. Thanks to high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy, we have seen that this pet Matrix Proteins and Links the Proteins togetra in the mature virus. “

Briggs concludes, “HIV-1 is probally the most studied virus, but there are still important steps in its replication we do two yet investand.”