A structurally disordered region at the C terminus of capsid plays essential roles in multimerization and membrane binding of the Gag protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Crystal structures of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) capsid protein (CA) reveal that the last 11 C-terminal amino acids are disordered. This disordered region contains a glycine-rich sequence 353-GVGGP-357 (numbering refers to the initiation methionine of Gag) that is highly conserved within the Gag proteins of HIV-1, HIV-2, and simian immunodeficiency virus, which suggests the importance of this sequence in virus replication. In the present study, we demonstrate that changing any individual residue within this short region in the context of the full-length HIV-1 genome virtually abolishes production of extracellular virus particles, in either the presence or absence of viral protease activity. This severe defect in virus particle production results from impaired Gag multimerization, as well as from decreased Gag association with the cellular membranes, as demonstrated by the results of gradient sedimentation and membrane flotation centrifugation assays. These findings are further supported by the diffuse distribution pattern of the mutant Gag within the cytoplasm, as opposed to the punctate distribution of the wild-type Gag on the plasma membrane. On the basis of these results, we propose that the disordered feature of amino acid stretch 353-GVGGP-357 in the CA crystal forms may have allowed Gag to adopt multiple conformations and that such structural flexibility is needed by Gag in order to construct geometrically complex particles.