Primate Lentivirus Capsid Sensitivity to TRIM5 Proteins

Mammalian cells express several factors that inhibit lentiviral infection and that have been under strong selective pressure. One of these factors, TRIM5, targets the capsid protein of incoming retrovirus particles and inhibits subsequent steps of the replication cycle. By substituting human immunodeficiency virus type 1 capsid, we were able to show that a set of divergent primate lentivirus capsids was generally not susceptible to restriction by TRIM5 proteins from higher primates. TRIM5α proteins from other primates exhibited distinct restriction specificities for primate lentivirus capsids. Finally, we identified novel primate lentiviral capsids that are targeted by TRIMCyp proteins.