Membrane interaction of the coiled-coil motif of HIV gp41 and its implication in the membrane fusion process

The envelope glycoprotein of HIV, gp41, mediates the membrane fusion with human cells. The extracellular domain of gp41 has two helical regions. The N-terminus helical region (N-helix) forms trimeric coiled coil, interacts with the C-terminus helical region (C-helix) of gp41 to form a stable helical bundle structure. In this study, we have shown that the N-helix of gp41 has membrane interacting and disrupting abilities. It was localized into the interface of the lipidic phase and head group of the membrane. In contrast, the N-helix region with membrane fusion defective mutations could not bind to membrane. In addition, the N-helix bound on the membrane was released from the membrane by the C-helix, and the complex of the N- and C-helix did not interact with membrane. These results suggested that the membrane binding ability of the N-helix is necessary for the fusion activity of gp41, and such property is possibly controlled by the C-helm.