Issue 4, 2007

Three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 VIF constructed by comparative modeling and the function characterization analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

VIF is one of the six accessory proteins of HIV-1. It has been shown to be necessary for the survival of HIV-1 in the human body and for the retention of viral infectivity. It is strongly expected that a new therapeutic strategy against HIV-1 infection could be realized by blocking the biological pathway to VIF. In this paper, a three-dimensional model of VIF was constructed by comparative modeling based on two templates, VHL and NarL, which were used to construct the C-terminal domain and N-terminal domain of VIF, respectively. A model of the VIF–ElonginB–ElonginC complex was constructed, and molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the interactions between VIF and ElonginB–ElonginC. Mutagenesis was used to identify the function of some conserved residues in the putative SOCS-box. The results showed that the mutations of the critical residues led to the disruption of the interactions between VIF and ElonginB–ElonginC, consistent with experimental observations. These novel models of VIF and its complex has therefore provided structural information for investigating the function of VIF at the molecular level.

Graphical abstract: Three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 VIF constructed by comparative modeling and the function characterization analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Aug 2006
Accepted
18 Dec 2006
First published
18 Jan 2007

Org. Biomol. Chem., 2007,5, 617-626

Three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 VIF constructed by comparative modeling and the function characterization analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation

W. Lv, Z. Liu, H. Jin, X. Yu, L. Zhang and L. Zhang, Org. Biomol. Chem., 2007, 5, 617 DOI: 10.1039/B612050D

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