HIV-1 RNA Trafficking Lab, Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC H3T 1E2, Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.
Cell Rep. 2023 Jan 31;42(1):111968. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111968. Epub 2022 Dec 26.
The leap of retroviruses and coronaviruses from animal hosts to humans has led to two ongoing pandemics and tens of millions of deaths worldwide. Retrovirus and coronavirus nucleocapsid proteins have been studied extensively as potential drug targets due to their central roles in virus replication, among which is their capacity to bind their respective genomic RNAs for packaging into nascent virions. This review focuses on fundamental studies of these nucleocapsid proteins and how their intrinsic abilities to condense through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) contribute to viral replication. Therapeutic targeting of these condensates and methodological advances are also described to address future questions on how phase separation contributes to viral replication.
逆转录病毒和冠状病毒从动物宿主跳跃到人类，导致了两次持续的大流行和全球数千万人死亡。逆转录病毒和冠状病毒核衣壳蛋白因其在病毒复制中的核心作用而被广泛研究为潜在的药物靶点，其中包括它们将各自的基因组 RNA 包装到新生病毒粒子中的能力。本综述重点介绍了这些核衣壳蛋白的基础研究，以及它们通过液-液相分离 (LLPS) 凝聚的内在能力如何促进病毒复制。还描述了对这些凝聚物的治疗靶向和方法学进展，以解决关于相分离如何促进病毒复制的未来问题。
