Institute of Virology, Medical Faculty "Carl Gustav Carus", Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
CRTD/DFG-Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Viruses. 2021 Jan 13;13(1):105. doi: 10.3390/v13010105.
Within the family of , foamy viruses (FVs) are unique and unconventional with respect to many aspects in their molecular biology, including assembly and release of enveloped viral particles. Both components of the minimal assembly and release machinery, Gag and Env, display significant differences in their molecular structures and functions compared to the other retroviruses. This led to the placement of FVs into a separate subfamily, the . Here, we describe the molecular differences in FV Gag and Env, as well as Pol, which is translated as a separate protein and not in an orthoretroviral manner as a Gag-Pol fusion protein. This feature further complicates FV assembly since a specialized Pol encapsidation strategy via a tripartite Gag-genome-Pol complex is used. We try to relate the different features and specific interaction patterns of the FV Gag, Pol, and Env proteins in order to develop a comprehensive and dynamic picture of particle assembly and release, but also other features that are indirectly affected. Since FVs are at the root of the retrovirus tree, we aim at dissecting the unique/specialized features from those shared among the and Such analyses may shed light on the evolution and characteristics of virus envelopment since related viruses within the , for instance LTR retrotransposons, are characterized by different levels of envelopment, thus affecting the capacity for intercellular transmission.
在泡沫病毒（FV）家族中，它们在分子生物学的许多方面都是独特和非常规的，包括包膜病毒粒子的组装和释放。最小组装和释放机制的两个组成部分，Gag 和 Env，在分子结构和功能上与其他逆转录病毒有很大的不同。这导致 FV 被放置在一个单独的亚科中，即. 在这里，我们描述了 FV Gag 和 Env 以及 Pol 的分子差异，Pol 是作为一个单独的蛋白质翻译的，而不是以一种正逆转录病毒方式作为 Gag-Pol 融合蛋白翻译的。这个特点进一步使 FV 的组装复杂化，因为它使用了一种特殊的 Pol 包装策略，通过三部分 Gag-基因组-Pol 复合物。我们试图描述 FV Gag、Pol 和 Env 蛋白的不同特征和特定相互作用模式，以便对粒子组装和释放进行全面和动态的描述，但也描述了其他间接受影响的特征。由于 FV 是逆转录病毒树的根源，我们旨在从 和 中分离出独特/专门的特征。这种分析可能有助于揭示包膜病毒的进化和特征，因为在 中，与相关病毒，例如 LTR 逆转录转座子，具有不同程度的包膜，从而影响细胞间的传播能力。
