At UC Davis, researchers are learning more about the HIV virus with new electron microscopy techniques. The researchers have discovered details about the shape of protein subunits in HIV that affect its function. They have done this by using cryoelectron microscopy, which uses very low temperatures to “freeze” molecules in place. With this technique, researchers can take multiple pictures of a molecule from different angles and thereby construct a 3D image of it. The researchers at UC Davis have used this technique to compose images of the viruses and the proteins of which they are made up, as well as images of viruses entering cells. Since the HIV virus can change so quickly, it is hard to make a vaccine for it, but learning more about the structure of the virus could help find ways to fight it.
Submitted by LauraAnn Schmidberger
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