FYSCELL/BMB Seminar

The enveloped glycoproteins (Envs) of HIV and the closely related simian immunodeficiency (SIV) viruses contain highly conserved trafficking signals that control the distribution of these crucial proteins in infected cells. In simian models, mutations that inactivate one such signal have a major impact on viral pathogenesis. Analysis of compensatory mutations that develop in rhesus macaques infected with a mutant virus, in conjunction with cell biological studies, are providing new insights to crucial steps in viral transmission and replication in vivo.