Main Menu (Mobile)- Block

Main Menu - Block

Revisiting Membrane Microdomains and Phase Separation: A Viral Perspective

Our Research / Publications
janelia7_blocks-janelia7_biblio_header | block
Viruses. 2020 Jul 10;12(7):745. doi: 10.3390/v12070745
View Article on
Revisiting Membrane Microdomains and Phase Separation: A Viral Perspective Lippincott-Schwartz Lab
Sengupta P, Lippincott-Schwartz J
janelia7_blocks-janelia7_biblio_abstract | block

Abstract

Retroviruses selectively incorporate a specific subset of host cell proteins and lipids into their outer membrane when they bud out from the host plasma membrane. This specialized viral membrane composition is critical for both viral survivability and infectivity. Here, we review recent findings from live cell imaging of single virus assembly demonstrating that proteins and lipids sort into the HIV retroviral membrane by a mechanism of lipid-based phase partitioning. The findings showed that multimerizing HIV Gag at the assembly site creates a liquid-ordered lipid phase enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids. Proteins with affinity for this specialized lipid environment partition into it, resulting in the selective incorporation of proteins into the nascent viral membrane. Building on this and other work in the field, we propose a model describing how HIV Gag induces phase separation of the viral assembly site through a mechanism involving transbilayer coupling of lipid acyl chains and membrane curvature changes. Similar phase-partitioning pathways in response to multimerizing structural proteins likely help sort proteins into the membranes of other budding structures within cells.

PMID: 32664429 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

node:body | entity_field
janelia7_blocks-janelia7_biblio_authors | block

Janelia Authors

Prabuddha Sengupta
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
janelia7_blocks-janelia7_biblio_tools | block