Fig. 1.

Role of the nucleocapsid protein in the HIV-1 life cycle. The mature NC protein (NCp7) is thought to assist RT in converting the single-strand genomic RNA into the double-stranded proviral DNA flanked by two long terminal repeats and to chaperone the IN-mediated integration of the proviral DNA into the host genome. As a part of the Gag polyprotein, the NC domain selectively recognizes, dimerizes, and packages the full-length genomic RNA during viral assembly. In the inner core of the viral particle, approximately 1500 NCp7 molecules are bound to the dimeric RNA genome. IN integrase; MA matrix; NC nucleocapsid protein; PR protease; RT reverse transcriptase