Story Summary: Much has been learned about HIV-1, the virus that causes the disease. However, basic aspects of person-to-person transmission and of the progressive intercellular infection that depletes the immune system of its vital T cells remain imperfectly understood. For example, the retrovirus HIV-1 has only nine genes in its RNA genome and infects cells by binding to specific receptors. This allowed the team to track single Gag particles and follow the assembly process, in real time. Once virus assembly is switched on within an infected cell, the membrane surface of the cell becomes covered with viruses in one to two hours. Each virus is assembled individually at the plasma membrane on the time scale of minutes, rejecting the idea of a reusable assembly platform that is believed to exist for other viruses. Hence, a lag of 15-20 minutes precedes release of the enveloped virus, presumably because it takes time for the hijacked cellular budding machinery to close of the virus and release it into to the extracellular medium. Using a photoconvertible version of the famous green fluorescent protein – whose discovery and utilization in biological systems were honored with the Nobel prize in chemistry in 2008 – attached to the Gag protein, we were able to convert the color of membrane bound Gag proteins from green to red, says Lamb….Read the Full Story

Related posts:

1. How HIV is assembled and released from infected cells
2. mobitec EosFP, Germany, is Offering Photochromic Fluorescent … – PR.com (press release)
3. GMANews.TV – A(H1N1) Pandemic: Hoping for the best – Nation – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News
4. A Tracer of Life: In Lindau, all three 2008 Chemistry Nobel Laureates will report on their research with fluorescent proteins
5. Lost in Translation- 1/7/09