MAKING THE PAPER

摘要

Retroviruses pose a major threat to the fitness and survival of many animals, including humans. Researchers have now identified a factor that keeps one type of the most notorious human retrovirus, HIV-1, stuck to the surface of human cells and unable to spread. HIV-1 encodes a slew of proteins, and relies on host cells' machinery to make them. Among these is a set of accessory proteins that for some time didn't seem to be important for virus replication. One of these, Vpu, allows the virus to escape from the external surface of cells. HIV-1 viruses that lack Vpu get stuck, and cannot leave cells to invade others.