This article is part of the supplement: Frontiers of Retrovirology: Complex retroviruses, retroelements and their hosts
Poster presentation
HIV-1 specifically encapsidates other nucleic acids than its genomic RNA
1 CNRS UMR 5236-UMI/UMII CPBS - Equipe «Assemblage et Réplication des Rétrovirus », Montpellier, France
2 Molecular Virology Section, Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
3 Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, UPR9002, CNRS, ULP, Strasbourg, France
Retrovirology 2009, 6(Suppl 2):P31 doi:10.1186/1742-4690-6-S2-P31
Published: 24 September 2009First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
HIV particles include two-copies of full-length genomic RNA (gRNA) that is selectively incorporated into the viral particles as a non-covalent dimer. RNA packaging into virus particles is dependent upon specific interaction between gRNA and the nucleocapsid protein (NC) domain of the Gag precursor. Selection of the HIV-1 genomic RNA involves the so-called Psi region located immediately upstream of the gag start codon and folded into three stem-loops important for genome packaging (SL1 to SL3). In particular, SL1 mediates RNA dimerization, presumably a prerequisite for gRNA packaging. SL2 and SL3 both bind HIV-1 NC, while SL3 seems to act as the major signal of encapsidation [1]. Little is know about the mechanism by which Gag selects gRNA for incorporation into the nascent virions. In addition, the selection appears weaker than previously thought, since HIV-1 particles also package cellular and spliced viral RNAs in addition to gRNA [2]. The determinants and mechanisms involved in the encapsidation of such non-genomic RNAs remain undefined.