# Dynamics of Gag-Pol auto-processing and ESCRT recruitment during HIV budding

> **NIH NIH R01** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2021 · $70,000

## Abstract

Project Summary:
Our long-term goal is to gain a complete understanding of the molecular machinery that regulates the release
of infectious HIV virions from infected cells. During our previous funding period (R21), we found that early
Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport play a major role in a molecular race between virion
budding and Gag-Pol auto-processing. We also found that disturbing the balance between budding and auto-
processing results in release of non-infectious virions. In the face of rapid evolution of HIV under protease
inhibitors, search for new target mechanisms to curb infections is crucial. Gag-Pol auto-processing and its
regulation during assembly and budding present an intriguing target. Our fundamental understanding of this
process however is limited due to its entanglement with assembly and budding kinetics and asynchronous
nature of virion release. Here we propose to visualize HIV budding and Gag-Pol auto-processing in single
virions in vivo to: 1) Establish the dynamics and regulation of early ESCRT recruitment during full HIV virion
assembly, 2) Measure the dynamics of Gag-Pol incorporation and auto-processing during HIV budding and 3)
Dissect the regulation of Gag-Pol auto-processing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10405685
- **Project number:** 3R01AI150474-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Saveez Saffarian
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $70,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10405685

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10405685, Dynamics of Gag-Pol auto-processing and ESCRT recruitment during HIV budding (3R01AI150474-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10405685. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*