Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting| Padova 2019

Quantitative Aspects of Membrane Fusion and Fission

Poster Abstracts

51-POS Board 51 PEPTIDE NANOFIBRILS AS ENHANCERS OF VIRAL INFECTION Kai Stroh 1 ; Herre Jelger Risselada 1,2 ; 1 Georg-August-University, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Goettingen, Niedersachsen, Germany 2 Leiden University, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands It has been shown experimentally that amyloid fibrils, which are naturally present in seminal fluid, may increase the infectious viral titer of HIV-1 by four to five orders of magnitude [1]. These fibrils termed SEVI (semen-derived enhancer of viral infection) interact with HIV-1 virions and promote their attachment to target cells, resulting in accelerated fusion. While the inhibition of this process would be of interest in the context of HIV, fusion enhancement is desirable for targeted retroviral gene transfer and drug delivery. The infection enhancement mechanism is not yet fully understood. While the positive surface charge of the amyloid fibrils evidently plays a role in bringing the negatively charged viruses and cells in contact, the increased infectivity also appears to depend on the intrinsic properties of the fibril structures [2], such as fibril stiffness and fibril length. To reconstruct the interaction landscape that amyloid fibril covered viruses face when undergoing fusion with a host cell, we employ elastic continuum models in conjunction with coarse grained molecular dynamics simulations. References[1] J. Muench et al., Cell 2007, 131, 1059-1071.[2] C. Meier et al., Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2014, 6, 438-451

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