Roles of HIV-1 capsid in viral replication and immune evasion

•We review different functions of HIV-1 CA protein that affect HIV-1 replication.•HIV-1 CA interacts with several host cell co-factors to inhibit the virus life cycle and initiate innate immunity or to promote HIV-1 infectivity.•New knowledge on how HIV-1 evades the innate antiviral response may be beneficial in vaccine development and the design of new antiretroviral drugs.

The primary roles of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) capsid (CA) protein are to encapsidate and protect the viral RNA genome. It is becoming increasing apparent that HIV-1 CA is a multifunctional protein that acts early during infection to coordinate uncoating, reverse transcription, nuclear import of the pre-integration complex and integration of double stranded viral DNA into the host genome. Additionally, numerous recent studies indicate that CA is playing a crucial function in HIV-1 immune evasion. Here we summarize the current knowledge on HIV-1 CA and its interactions with the host cell to promote infection. The fact that CA engages in a number of different protein-protein interactions with the host makes it an interesting target for the development of new potent antiviral agents.