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HIV

Envelope's letters boxed into shape

Nature volume 393, pages 630–631 (1998) Cite this article

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The groups of Sodroski and Hendrickson have put their distinctive stamps on the HIV-1 envelope by delivering a package of information (on pages 6481 and 2 of this issue, and in this week's Science3) on the crystal structure of the gp120 surface glycoprotein. These findings complement reports4,5 on the structure of gp41, and have important implications for virology, immunology and vaccine development.

The two groups crystallized the ‘core’ of the gp120 molecule from the HxBc2 laboratory strain as a ternary complex with its primary receptor (CD4 domains 1 and 2) and an anti-gp120 antibody fragment called 17b, which partially mimics the HIV-1 co-receptor (CCR5/CXCR4). Although seemingly drastic, the modifications necessary to crystallize the gp120 core preserve its antigenic integrity6, and they do not seriously affect the value of the structural information obtained.

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Figure 1: Proposed conformational changes during binding of gp120 to its receptor (CD4) and co-receptor (CXCR4/CCR5).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, 10021, New York, USA

    John P. Moore & James Binley

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  1. John P. Moore
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  2. James Binley
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Moore, J., Binley, J. Envelope's letters boxed into shape. Nature 393, 630–631 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31359

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