Date of Award
8-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Schuyler B. van Engelenburg
Keywords
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (HIV-1), Life cycle, Viral buds
Abstract
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (HIV-1) has remained highly prevalent across the world for over 40 years, taking lives by attacking the immune system. There remains a lack of universal treatment options, which can be attributed to a poorly understood process in the life cycle of the virus: the assembly of new infectious virion, which propagate the infection within a host. Though it is known that the viral spike glycoprotein, Envelope (Env), responsible for viral entry into a host immune cell, is essential in propagation of infection, the mechanism of its incorporation into newly assembling infectious particles remains ill understood. We observe, in real time, Env incorporation events into newly assembling viral buds, formed by the virus’ structural glycoprotein, Gag, and have identified several viral elements in both Env and Gag that demonstrate a contribution towards assembly of an infectious HIV-1 virus particle. Notably, our observations support a mechanism of direct interaction between Env and Gag during viral assembly, with critical residues identified in domains of both proteins where the two proteins are likely to interface – in the Env cytoplasmic tail, and the Gag matrix domain. Identification of these and other critical viral elements during assembly of infectious virion could open the door to methods and therapeutics in abolishing the spread of this deadly viral infection.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Nairi Pezeshkian
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
en
File Size
147 pgs
Recommended Citation
Pezeshkian, Nairi, "Single Molecule Imaging of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (HIV-1) Envelope Glycoprotein Dynamics Identifies Viral Elements Contributing to Infectious Particle Assembly" (2020). Restricted Access ETDs. 82.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/82
Copyright date
2020
Discipline
Biophysics, Biology