Figure 1.

Schematic overview of HIV-1 assembly process. Gag and Env traffic via different routes to reach a common site of assembly on the PM. The path taken by Gag to reach the PM remains uncertain. Env travels through the secretory pathway to the PM, and then is rapidly endocytosed. Depicted here is a role for the recycling endosome in the outward movement of Env to the site of particle assembly. Following the assembly of the immature virion and packaging of the viral gRNA, cleavage of Gag occurs, leading to dramatic structural rearrangements and the formation of the mature virion. Adapted from HIV Replication Cycle by BioRender.com (2022).