HIV-1 Nef hijacks clathrin coats by stabilizing AP-1:Arf1 polygons

Abstract

HIV proteins exploit clathrin coats Clathrin-coated vesicles are involved in the sorting of membrane and cargo at the trans-Golgi network. Clathrin coats exploit adaptor proteins, including AP-1 and AP-2, in selecting their cargoes, assisted by the small membrane-trafficking associated GTPase Arf1. Shen et al. were interested in how the HIV-1 Nef protein affected this process. They leveraged a structure solved in the presence of Nef to show that the AP-1:clathrin coat is far more intricately organized than previously thought. Furthermore, Arf1 played a central structural role in these coated vesicles. It seems that HIV-1 Nef hijacks the clathrin pathway to its own ends through very sophisticated structural perturbations. Science , this issue p. 10.1126/science.aac5137