UNUSUAL FEATURES OF PROTEIN-INTERACTION IN HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV) VIRIONS

The treatment of HIV-1 virions with ionic and nonionic detergents (NP 40, ocytlglucoside, Na deoxycholate) resulted in an effect unusual for enveloped viruses: instead of solubilization of glycoproteins, the core protein p24 was solubilized while envelope glycoproteins with other structural proteins were found in subviral particles. These date are consistent with a model of HIV structural organization in which glycoproteins are included in the matrix formed by the protein p17 and suggest that p24 is neither involved in the matrix nor closely bound to any viral proteins. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.