HIV Gag mimics the Tsg101-recruiting activity of the human Hrs protein

The HIV-1 Gag protein recruits the cellular factor Tsg101 to facilitate the final stages of virus budding. A conserved P(S/T)AP tetrapeptide motif within Gag (the "late domain") binds directly to the NH2-terminal ubiquitin E2 variant (UEV) domain of Tsg101. In the cell, Tsg101 is required for biogenesis of vesicles that bud into the lumen of late endosomal compartments called multivesicular bodies (MVBs). However, the mechanism by which Tsg101 is recruited from the cytoplasm onto the endosomal membrane has not been known. Now, we report that Tsg101 binds the COOH-terminal region of the endosomal protein hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (Hrs; residues 222-777). This interaction is mediated, in part, by binding of the Tsg101 UEV domain to the Hrs 348PSAP351 motif. Importantly, Hrs222-777 can recruit Tsg101 and rescue the budding of virus-like Gag particles that are missing native late domains. These observations indicate that Hrs normally functions to recruit Tsg101 to the endosomal membrane. HIV-1 Gag apparently mimics this Hrs activity, and thereby usurps Tsg101 and other components of the MVB vesicle fission machinery to facilitate viral budding.     

ESCRT-III protein requirements for HIV-1 budding

Two early-acting components of the cellular ESCRT pathway, ESCRT-I and ALIX, participate directly in HIV-1 budding. The membrane fission activities of ESCRT-III subunits are also presumably required, but humans express 11 different CHMP/ESCRT-III proteins whose functional contributions are not yet clear. We therefore depleted cells of each of the different CHMP proteins and protein families and examined the effects on HIV-1 budding. Virus release was profoundly inhibited by codepletion of either CHMP2 or CHMP4 family members, resulting in ≥100-fold titer reductions. CHMP2A and CHMP4B proteins bound one another, and this interaction was required for budding. By contrast, virus release was reduced only modestly by depletion of CHMP3 and CHMP1 proteins (2- to 8-fold titer reductions) and was unaffected by depletion of other human ESCRT-III proteins. HIV-1 budding therefore requires only a subset of the known human ESCRT-III proteins, with the CHMP2 and CHMP4 families playing key functional roles.     

内吞体分选转运复合体 (ESCRT) 及其在包膜病毒出芽中的作用

内吞体分选转运复合体(Endosomal sorting complex required for transport,ESCRT)主要识别泛素化修饰的膜蛋白,介导内吞小泡出芽和多泡体(Multivesicular bodies,MVBs)的形成。此外,以类似的拓扑方式,ESCRT也参与胞质分裂、自体吞噬、以及包膜病毒的出芽等过程。已有的研究表明,大量的反转录病毒和RNA病毒含有晚期结构域(Late-domains),该结构域与ESCRT组分相互作用,将ESCRT-Ⅲ和VPS4等募集在病毒组装与出芽区域,并利用ESCRT-Ⅲ使病毒粒子得以释放。最近,有研究发现,一些DNA包膜病毒、如乙肝病毒、疱疹病毒和杆状病毒等的出芽释放也依赖于宿主细胞ESCRT系统,但其机理尚需深入研究。     

AIP1/ALIX is a binding partner for HIV-1 p6 and EIAV p9 functioning in virus budding

HIV-1 and other retroviruses exit infected cells by budding from the plasma membrane, a process requiring membrane fission. The primary late assembly (L) domain in the p6 region of HIV-1 Gag mediates the detachment of the virion by recruiting host Tsg101, a component of the class E vacuolar protein sorting (Vps) machinery. We now show that HIV Gag p6 contains a second region involved in L domain function that binds AIP1, a homolog of the yeast class E Vps protein Bro1. Further, AIP1 interacts with Tsg101 and homologs of a subunit of the yeast class E Vps protein complex ESCRT-III. AIP1 also binds to the L domain in EIAV p9, and this binding correlates perfectly with L domain function. These observations identify AIP1 as a component of the viral budding machinery, which serves to link a distinct region in the L domain of HIV-1 p6 and EIAV p9 to ESCRT-III.     

201 The ESCRT pathway in HIV budding and cell division

The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway mediates membrane fission reactions during intraluminal endosomal vesicle formation, budding of HIV-1 and other enveloped viruses, and the final abscission step of cytokinesis in mammals and archaea. Current models hold that ubiquitin-binding ESCRT factors act early in the pathway to regulate factor recruitment and assembly, whereas the late acting ESCRT-III proteins form filaments that draw the membranes together and mediate fission, possibly, in collaboration with VPS4-ATPases. I will discuss our current understanding of the structures and functions of the different ESCRT factors in HIV budding and abscission with a particular focus on our studies aimed at understanding: (1) how ubiquitin regulates ESCRT recruitment during HIV-1 budding and (2) the structures and membrane-binding properties of ESCRT-III subunits and filaments.     

Structural characterization of the ATPase reaction cycle of endosomal AAA protein Vps4

The multivesicular body (MVB) pathway functions in multiple cellular processes including cell surface receptor down-regulation and viral budding from host cells. An important step in the MVB pathway is the correct sorting of cargo molecules, which requires the assembly and disassembly of endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) on the endosomal membrane. Disassembly of the ESCRTs is catalyzed by ATPase associated with various cellular activities (AAA) protein Vps4. Vps4 contains a single AAA domain and undergoes ATP-dependent quaternary structural change to disassemble the ESCRTs. Structural and biochemical analyses of the Vps4 ATPase reaction cycle are reported here. Crystal structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Vps4 in both the nucleotide-free form and the ADP-bound form provide the first structural view illustrating how nucleotide binding might induce conformational changes within Vps4 that lead to oligomerization and binding to its substrate ESCRT-III subunits. In contrast to previous models, characterization of the Vps4 structure now supports a model where the ground state of Vps4 in the ATPase reaction cycle is predominantly a monomer and the activated state is a dodecamer. Comparison with a previously reported human VPS4B structure suggests that Vps4 functions in the MVB pathway via a highly conserved mechanism supported by similar protein-protein interactions during its ATPase reaction cycle.     

Super-Resolution Imaging of ESCRT-Proteins at HIV-1 Assembly Sites

The cellular endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery is involved in membrane budding processes, such as multivesicular biogenesis and cytokinesis. In HIV-infected cells, HIV-1 hijacks the ESCRT machinery to drive HIV release. Early in the HIV-1 assembly process, the ESCRT-I protein Tsg101 and the ESCRT-related protein ALIX are recruited to the assembly site. Further downstream, components such as the ESCRT-III proteins CHMP4 and CHMP2 form transient membrane associated lattices, which are involved in virus-host membrane fission. Although various geometries of ESCRT-III assemblies could be observed, the actual membrane constriction and fission mechanism is not fully understood. Fission might be driven from inside the HIV-1 budding neck by narrowing the membranes from the outside by larger lattices surrounding the neck, or from within the bud. Here, we use super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to elucidate the size and structure of the ESCRT components Tsg101, ALIX, CHMP4B and CHMP2A during HIV-1 budding below the diffraction limit. To avoid the deleterious effects of using fusion proteins attached to ESCRT components, we performed measurements on the endogenous protein or, in the case of CHMP4B, constructs modified with the small HA tag. Due to the transient nature of the ESCRT interactions, the fraction of HIV-1 assembly sites with colocalizing ESCRT complexes was low (1.5%-3.4%). All colocalizing ESCRT clusters exhibited closed, circular structures with an average size (full-width at half-maximum) between 45 and 60 nm or a diameter (determined using a Ripley’s L-function analysis) of roughly 60 to 100 nm. The size distributions for colocalizing clusters were narrower than for non-colocalizing clusters, and significantly smaller than the HIV-1 bud. Hence, our results support a membrane scission process driven by ESCRT protein assemblies inside a confined structure, such as the bud neck, rather than by large lattices around the neck or in the bud lumen. In the case of ALIX, a cloud of individual molecules surrounding the central clusters was often observed, which we attribute to ALIX molecules incorporated into the nascent HIV-1 Gag shell. Experiments performed using YFP-tagged Tsg101 led to an over 10-fold increase in ESCRT structures colocalizing with HIV-1 budding sites indicating an influence of the fusion protein tag on the function of the ESCRT protein.     

The crystal structure of the C-terminal domain of Vps28 reveals a conserved surface required for Vps20 recruitment

The endosomal sorting complex I required for transport (ESCRT-I) is composed of the three subunits Vps23/Tsg101, Vps28 and Vps37. ESCRT-I is recruited to cellular membranes during multivesicular endosome biogenesis and by enveloped viruses such as HIV-1 to mediate budding from the cell. Here, we describe the crystal structure of a conserved C-terminal domain from Sacharomyces cerevisiae Vps28 (Vps28-CTD) at 3.05 A resolution which folds independently into a four-helical bundle structure. Co-expression experiments of Vps28-CTD, Vps23 and Vps37 suggest that Vps28-CTD does not directly participate in ESCRT-I assembly and may thus act as an adaptor module for downstream interaction partners. We show through mutagenesis studies that Vps28-CTD employs its strictly conserved surface in the interaction with the ESCRT-III factor Vps20. Furthermore, we present evidence that Vps28-CTD is sufficient to rescue an equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV) Gag late domain deletion. Vps28-CTD mutations abolishing Vps20 interaction in vitro also prevent the rescue of the EIAV Gag late domain mutant consistent with a potential direct Vps28-ESCRT-III Vps20 recruitment. Therefore, the physiological relevant EIAV Gag-Alix interaction can be functionally replaced by a Gag-Vps28-CTD fusion. Because both Alix and Vps28-CTD can directly recruit ESCRT-III proteins, ESCRT-III assembly coupled to Vps4 action may therefore constitute the minimal budding machinery for EIAV release.     

Structure/function analysis of four core ESCRT-III proteins reveals common regulatory role for extreme C-terminal domain

Endosomal sorting complex required for transport-III (ESCRT-III) is a large complex built from related ESCRT-III proteins involved in multivesicular body biogenesis. Little is known about the structure and function of this complex. Here, we compare four human ESCRT-III proteins - hVps2-1/CHMP2a, hVps24/CHMP3, hVps20/CHMP6, and hSnf7-1/CHMP4a - to each other, studying the effects of deleting predicted alpha-helical domains on their behavior in transfected cells. Surprisingly, removing approximately 40 amino acids from the C-terminus of each protein unmasks a common ability to associate with endosomal membranes and assemble into large polymeric complexes. Expressing these truncated ESCRT-III proteins in cultured cells causes ubiquitinated cargo to accumulate on enlarged endosomes and inhibits viral budding, while expressing full-length proteins does not. hVps2-1/CHMP2a lacking its C-terminal 42 amino acids further fails to bind to the AAA+ adenosine triphosphatase VPS4B/SKD1, indicating that C-terminal sequences are important for interaction of ESCRT-III proteins with VPS4. Overall, our study supports a model in which ESCRT-III proteins cycle between a default 'closed' state and an activated 'open' state under control of sequences at their C-terminus and associated factors.     

Essential ingredients for HIV-1 budding

HIV-1 engages the cellular ESCRT-III/VPS4 membrane scission machinery for its escape from host cells. Three papers now begin to demystify its mode of action by showing that HIV-1 requires only the transient recruitment of a surprisingly small subset of ESCRT-III components, whose membrane abscission function depends on VPS4 activity.     

Infectious HIV-1 assembles in late endosomes in primary macrophages

Although human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is generally thought to assemble at the plasma membrane of infected cells, virions have been observed in intracellular compartments in macrophages. Here, we investigated virus assembly in HIV-1-infected primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Electron microscopy of cryosections showed virus particles, identified by their morphology and positive labeling with antibodies to the viral p17, p24, and envelope proteins, in intracellular vacuoles. Immunolabeling demonstrated that these compartments contained the late endosomal marker CD63, which was enriched on vesicles within these structures and incorporated into the envelope of budding virions. The virus-containing vacuoles were also labeled with antibodies against LAMP-1, CD81, and CD82, which were also incorporated into the viral envelope. To assess the cellular source of infectious viruses derived from MDM, virus-containing media from infected cells were precipitated with specific antibodies. Only antibodies against antigens found in late endosomes precipitated infectious virus, whereas antibodies against proteins located primarily on the cell surface did not. Our data indicate that most of the infectious HIV produced by primary macrophages is assembled on late endocytic membranes and acquires antigens characteristic of this compartment. This notion has significant implications for understanding the biology of HIV and its cell-cell transmission.     

Divergent pathways lead to ESCRT-III-catalyzed membrane fission

Endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) have been implicated in topologically similar but diverse cellular and pathological processes including multivesicular body (MVB) biogenesis, cytokinesis and enveloped virus budding. Although receptor sorting at the endosomal membrane producing MVBs employs the regulated assembly of ESCRT-0 followed by ESCRT-I, -II, -III and the vacuolar protein sorting (VPS)4 complex, other ESCRT-catalyzed processes require only a subset of complexes which commonly includes ESCRT-III and VPS4. Recent progress has shed light on the pathway of ESCRT assembly and highlights the separation of tasks of different ESCRT complexes and associated partners. The emerging picture suggests that among all ESCRT-catalyzed processes, divergent pathways lead to ESCRT-III assembly within the neck of a budding structure catalyzing membrane fission.     

Multiple interactions between the ESCRT machinery and arrestin-related proteins: implications for PPXY-dependent budding

Late domains are short peptide sequences encoded by enveloped viruses to promote the final separation of the nascent virus from the infected cell. These amino acid motifs facilitate viral egress by interacting with components of the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) machinery, ultimately leading to membrane scission by recruiting ESCRT-III to the site of viral budding. PPXY late (L) domains present in viruses such as murine leukemia virus (MLV) or human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) access the ESCRT pathway via interaction with HECT ubiquitin ligases (WWP1, WWP2, and Itch). However, the mechanism of ESCRT-III recruitment in this context remains elusive. In this study, we tested the arrestin-related trafficking (ART) proteins, namely, ARRDC1 (arrestin domain-containing protein 1) to ARRDC4 and TXNIP (thioredoxin-interacting protein), for their ability to function as adaptors between HECT ubiquitin ligases and the core ESCRT machinery in PPXY-dependent budding. We present several lines of evidence in support of such a role: ARTs interact with HECT ubiquitin ligases, and they also exhibit multiple interactions with components of the ESCRT pathway, namely, ALIX and Tsg101, and perhaps with an as yet unidentified factor. Additionally, the ARTs can be recruited to the site of viral budding, and their overexpression results in a PPXY-specific inhibition of MLV budding. Lastly, we show that WWP1 changes the ubiquitination status of ARRDC1, suggesting that the ARTs may provide a platform for ubiquitination in PPXY-dependent budding. Taken together, our results support a model whereby ARTs are involved in PPXY-mediated budding by interacting with HECT ubiquitin ligases and providing several alternative routes for ESCRT-III recruitment.     

ALIX Is Recruited Temporarily into HIV-1 Budding Sites at the End of Gag Assembly

Polymerization of Gag on the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane drives the assembly of Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 (HIV-1). Gag recruits components of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) to facilitate membrane fission and virion release. ESCRT assembly is initiated by recruitment of ALIX and TSG101/ESCRT-I, which bind directly to the viral Gag protein and then recruit the downstream ESCRT-III and VPS4 factors to complete the budding process. In contrast to previous models, we show that ALIX is recruited transiently at the end of Gag assembly, and that most ALIX molecules are recycled into the cytosol as the virus buds, although a subset remains within the virion. Our experiments imply that ALIX is recruited to the neck of the assembling virion and is mostly recycled after virion release.     

Potent rescue of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 late domain mutants by ALIX/AIP1 depends on its CHMP4 binding site

The release of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and of other retroviruses from certain cells requires the presence of distinct regions in Gag that have been termed late assembly (L) domains. HIV-1 harbors a PTAP-type L domain in the p6 region of Gag that engages an endosomal budding machinery through Tsg101. In addition, an auxiliary L domain near the C terminus of p6 binds to ALIX/AIP1, which functions in the same endosomal sorting pathway as Tsg101. In the present study, we show that the profound release defect of HIV-1 L domain mutants can be completely rescued by increasing the cellular expression levels of ALIX and that this rescue depends on an intact ALIX binding site in p6. Furthermore, the ability of ALIX to rescue viral budding in this system depended on two putative surface-exposed hydrophobic patches on its N-terminal Bro1 domain. One of these patches mediates the interaction between ALIX and the ESCRT-III component CHMP4B, and mutations which disrupt the interaction also abolish the activity of ALIX in viral budding. The ability of ALIX to rescue a PTAP mutant also depends on its C-terminal proline-rich domain (PRD), but not on the binding sites for Tsg101, endophilin, CIN85, or for the newly identified binding partner, CMS, within the PRD. Our data establish that ALIX can have a dramatic effect on HIV-1 release and suggest that the ability to use ALIX may allow HIV-1 to replicate in cells that express only low levels of Tsg101.     

HIV-1 egress is gated through late endosomal membranes

HIV-1 buds from the surface of activated T lymphocytes. In macrophages, however, newly formed HIV-1 particles amass in the lumen of an intracellular compartment. Here, we demonstrate by live-cell imaging techniques, by immunocytochemistry and by immuno-electron microscopy that HIV-1 structural proteins, particularly the internal structural protein Gag, accumulate at membranes of the late endocytic compartment in a variety of cell types and not just in monocyte/macrophage-derived cells. Recent biochemical and genetic studies have implicated components of the mammalian vacuolar protein sorting pathway in retroviral budding. Together with those observations, our study suggests that HIV-1 morphogenesis is thoroughly rooted in the endosomal system.     

Structural basis for autoinhibition of ESCRT-III CHMP3

Endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT-0, ESCRT-I, ESCRT-II, and ESCRT-III) are selectively recruited to cellular membranes to exert their function in diverse processes, such as multivesicular body biogenesis, enveloped virus budding, and cytokinesis. ESCRT-III is composed of members of the charged multivesicular body protein (CHMP) family—cytosolic proteins that are targeted to membranes via yet unknown signals. Membrane targeting is thought to result in a membrane-associated protein network that presumably acts at a late budding step. Here we provide structural evidence based on small-angle X-ray scattering data that ESCRT-III CHMP3 can adopt two conformations in solution: a closed globular form that most likely represents the cytosolic conformation and an open extended conformation that might represent the activated form of CHMP3. Both the closed and open conformations of CHMP3 interact with AMSH with high affinity. Although the C-terminal region of CHMP3 is required for AMSH interaction, a peptide thereof reveals only weak binding to AMSH, suggesting that other regions of CHMP3 contribute to the high-affinity interaction. Thus, AMSH, including its MIT (microtubule interacting and transport) domain, interacts with ESCRT-III CHMP3 differently from reported Vps4 MIT domain-CHMP protein interactions.     

Beyond Tsg101: the role of Alix in 'ESCRTing' HIV-1

The limited coding capacity of retroviral genomes forces these viruses to rely heavily on the host-cell machinery for their replication. This phenomenon is particularly well illustrated by the interaction between retroviruses and components of the endosomal budding machinery that occurs during virus release. Here, we focus on the use of host-cell factors during HIV-1 budding and highlight recent progress in our understanding of the role of one such factor, Alix, in both viral and cellular membrane budding and fission events.     

Binding of Substrates to the Central Pore of the Vps4 ATPase Is Autoinhibited by the Microtubule Interacting and Trafficking (MIT) Domain and Activated by MIT Interacting Motifs (MIMs)

The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway drives reverse topology membrane fission events within multiple cellular pathways, including cytokinesis, multivesicular body biogenesis, repair of the plasma membrane, nuclear membrane vesicle formation, and HIV budding. The AAA ATPase Vps4 is recruited to membrane necks shortly before fission, where it catalyzes disassembly of the ESCRT-III lattice. The N-terminal Vps4 microtubule-interacting and trafficking (MIT) domains initially bind the C-terminal MIT-interacting motifs (MIMs) of ESCRT-III subunits, but it is unclear how the enzyme then remodels these substrates in response to ATP hydrolysis. Here, we report quantitative binding studies that demonstrate that residues from helix 5 of the Vps2p subunit of ESCRT-III bind to the central pore of an asymmetric Vps4p hexamer in a manner that is dependent upon the presence of flexible nucleotide analogs that can mimic multiple states in the ATP hydrolysis cycle. We also find that substrate engagement is autoinhibited by the Vps4p MIT domain and that this inhibition is relieved by binding of either Type 1 or Type 2 MIM elements, which bind the Vps4p MIT domain through different interfaces. These observations support the model that Vps4 substrates are initially recruited by an MIM-MIT interaction that activates the Vps4 central pore to engage substrates and generate force, thereby triggering ESCRT-III disassembly.     

Two distinct modes of ESCRT-III recognition are required for VPS4 functions in lysosomal protein targeting and HIV-1 budding

The ESCRT pathway mediates membrane remodeling during enveloped virus budding, cytokinesis, and intralumenal endosomal vesicle formation. Late in the pathway, a subset of membrane-associated ESCRT-III proteins display terminal amphipathic "MIM1" helices that bind and recruit VPS4 ATPases via their MIT domains. We now report that VPS4 MIT domains also bind a second, "MIM2" motif found in a different subset of ESCRT-III subunits. The solution structure of the VPS4 MIT-CHMP6 MIM2 complex revealed that MIM2 elements bind in extended conformations along the groove between the first and third helices of the MIT domain. Mutations that block VPS4 MIT-MIM2 interactions inhibit VPS4 recruitment, lysosomal protein targeting, and HIV-1 budding. MIT-MIM2 interactions appear to be common throughout the ESCRT pathway and possibly elsewhere, and we suggest how these interactions could contribute to a mechanism in which VPS4 and ESCRT-III proteins function together to constrict the necks of budding vesicles.