HIV's Hidden Crucial Cutting Point (IMAGE)

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

HIV's Hidden Crucial Cutting Point

Caption

For HIV to mature, a crucial cutting point has to be severed. EMBL scientists determined the cutting site's 3-D structure in whole HIV particles, and found that it is hidden in a position where the virus' cutting machinery can't sever it. So for the virus to mature, the structure first has to change, to expose that cutting point.

Credit

IMAGE: Florian Schur/EMBL

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