Influenza Virus
Kinetochore
Bacteriophage T4 Infection
JCVI-syn3A Minimal Cell
Insulin Release
HIV Vaccine
Caulobacter Polar Microdomain
HIV-Infected Cell
Collagen and Extracellular Matrix
Escherichia coli Bacterium
Myoglobin in a Whale Muscle Cell
Cellulose Synthase
CytoSkeleton
Transfer RNA and Gag Protein
RecA and DNA
Casein Micelle and Fat Globule in Milk
Model of a Mycoplasma Cell
Phage-based COVID-19 Vaccine
Myelin
Immunological Synapse
SARS-CoV-2 Fusion
Red Blood Cell Cytoskeleton
SARS-CoV-2 and Neutralizing Antibodies
Respiratory Droplet
Coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine
Coronavirus Life Cycle
Influenza Vaccine
Measles Virus Proteins
Lipid Droplets
Poliovirus Neutralization
Excitatory and Inhibitory Synapses
Abiogenesis
Last Universal Common Ancestor
Zika Virus
Insulin Action
Ebola Virus
Mycoplasma mycoides
Chloroplast
Autophagy
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VegF) Signaling
Biosites: Muscle
Biosites: Basement Membrane
Biosites: Red Blood Cell
Biosites: Nucleus
Biosites: Blood Plasma
Biosites: Cytoplasm
Blood
Escherichia coli
HIV in Blood Plasma

Molecular Landscapes by David S. Goodsell

Transfer RNA and Gag Protein, 2021

Acknowledgement: Illustration by David S. Goodsell, Scripps Research and RCSB Protein Data Bank. doi: 10.2210/rcsb_pdb/goodsell-gallery-037

This painting highlights work from the Center for HIV-1 RNA Studies (cRNA) and HIV Interactions in Viral Evolution Center (HIVE), showing that HIV-1 Gag polyprotein binds to tRNA and ribosomes, forming a reservoir of Gag molecules that are used during assembly and budding of new virions. The painting shows several steps in this process, starting with synthesis of Gag polyprotein (A) by ribosomes (B), and lipidation of the matrix domain of Gag by the cellular enzyme N-myristoyltransferase (C). Free Gag is associated with ribosomes (D) and tRNA (E), and ultimately interacts with the viral genomic RNA (F) and binds to the cell membrane, powering the budding of the virus from the cell surface.



This painting was created to accompany the report of the crystallographic structure of the matrix domain of Gag with tRNA (PDB ID 7mrl), published in Cell Host and Microbe. Information on the association of Gag with ribosomes is described in a publication in Journal of Molecular Biology. For more information on the other HIV and cellular molecules in the painting, please see Visualizations of HIV and HIV Life Cycle pages at the HIVE Center, and resources related to HIV and AIDS at PDB-101.