The Specialized Centers for the Determination of Structures of HIV/Host Complexes, established in 2007, integrate a variety of techniques from structural biology and biochemistry to capture in unprecedented detail the three-dimensional structures of HIV proteins bound to human cellular components, such as proteins or DNA. This information will help elucidate how the different components interact and reveal new approaches for disrupting those interactions, potentially leading to new targets for HIV therapies.
Atomic model for the HIV-1 capsid based on crystal structures of the HIV-1 CA hexamer (dark orange) and pentamer (light orange).
Principal investigator: Wesley Sundquist, Ph.D., University of Utah
This center is using computational and experimental methods to analyze HIV molecular complexes and determine how they interact with and commandeer cellular machinery to traffic throughout the cell and form new virus particles. By visually reconstructing various elements of virus particle assembly and trafficking, the center aims to develop HIV into a model for studying how other human viruses interact with cellular hosts.
Jellyfish model of HIV Rev, an architecture to facilitate nuclear export of viral RNA during replication.
Principal investigator: Alan Frankel, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
This Center is developing new tools and methods to create a complete picture of HIV-host cell interactions occurring during the early phases of the virus life cycle. The center focuses on key HIV proteins that perform important regulatory and accessory functions.
Molecular model of three HIV-1 CA hexamers.
Principal investigator: Angela Gronenborn, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
This center specializes in developing a structure determination pipeline to image pivotal events occurring right after the virus fuses with the host cell. The center is establishing a framework for computationally predicting important cellular partners for HIV and for experimentally validating such predictions.