Akio Adachi (@1464-205.bsky.social)

Positive correlation between structural disorder of the HIV-1 Gag N-terminal segment and progeny virus particle formation | Journal of Virology A class of unstructured peptide segments termed disordered regions plays crucial roles in the regulation of protein structure and function. Although HIV-1 Gag precursor protein has multiple disordered elements, molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of unstructured state and viral phenotypes largely remain elusive. In this study, by analyzing in association the structural, evolutionary, and virological roles of the disordered N-terminal region of the HIV-1 Gag protein, we show that an amino acid residue at position 9 of the Gag is able to modulate the N-terminal disordered state, and the level of disorder of the Gag N-terminal region is positively correlated with the level of virus particle formation. Our findings gain new insights into molecular mechanisms of regulation of Gag structure and highlight the importance of a previously unappreciated survival strategy of HIV-1—namely, preservation of the Gag N-terminal disorder. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jvi.00887-25