Cryo-EM structures and atomic model of the HIV-1 strand transfer complex intasome

Abstract

High-resolution insights into the intasome An essential step in the life cycle of lentiviruses such as HIV-1 is when viral DNA integrates into the host genome, establishing a permanent infection of the host cell. The viral integrase enzyme catalyzes this process and is a major drug target. During viral integration, integrase binds the ends of viral DNA, forming a higher-order structure called the intasome. Passos et al. and Ballandras-Colas et al. used cryo—electron microscopy to solve the structures of the intasomes from HIV-1 and maedi-visna virus (ovine lentivirus), respectively. These structures reveal how integrase self-associates to form a functional intasome and help resolve previous conflicting models of intasome assembly. Science , this issue p. 89 , p. 93