Rab11-FIP1C Is Dispensable for HIV-1 Replication in Primary CD4+T Cells, but Its Role Is Cell Type Dependent in Immortalized Human T-Cell Lines

Abstract

The incorporation of the HIV-1 envelope (Env) glycoproteins, gp120 and gp41, into virus particles is critical for virus infectivity. gp41 contains a long cytoplasmic tail that has been proposed to interact with host cell factors, including the trafficking factor Rab11a family interacting protein 1C (FIP1C). To investigate the role of FIP1C in relevant cell types—human T-cell lines and primary CD4+T cells—we used CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out FIP1C expression and examined the effect on HIV-1 Env incorporation and virus replication.