| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3421925 | Trends in Microbiology | 2013 | 8 Pages |
•Native HIV Env structure can be determined by cryo-electron tomography.•Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) reveals the 3D ultrastructure of HIV virological synapses.•Cryo-electron microscopy of HIV protein complexes can provide key information for vaccine design.
The development of a safe, effective vaccine to prevent HIV infection is a key step for controlling the disease on a global scale. However, many aspects of HIV biology make vaccine design problematic, including the sequence diversity and structural variability of the surface envelope glycoproteins and the poor accessibility of neutralization-sensitive epitopes on the virus. In this review, we discuss recent progress in understanding HIV in a structural context using emerging tools in 3D electron microscopy, and outline how some of these advances could be important for a better understanding of mechanisms of viral entry and for vaccine design.
