The HIV-1 gp41 N-terminal heptad repeat plays an essential role in membrane fusion.

For many different enveloped viruses the crystal structure of the fusion protein core has been established. A striking conservation in the tertiary and quaternary arrangement of these core structures is repeatedly revealed among members of diverse families. It has been proposed that the primary role of the core involves structural rearrangements which facilitate apposition between viral and target cell membranes. Forming the internal trimeric coiled coil of the core, the N-terminal heptad repeat (NHR) of HIV-1 gp41 was suggested to have additional roles, due to its ability to bind biological membranes. The NHR is adjacent to the N-terminal hydrophobic fusion peptide (FP), which alone can fuse biological membranes. To investigate the role of the NHR in membrane fusion, we synthesized and functionally characterized HIV-1 gp41 peptides corresponding to the FP and NHR alone, as well as continuous peptides made of both FP and NHR (wild type and mutant). We show here that a consecutive, 70-residue peptide consisting of both the FP and NHR (gp41/1-70) has dramatic fusogenic properties. The effect of including the complete NHR, as compared to shorter 23-, 33-, or 52-residue N-terminal peptides, is illustrated by a leap in lipid mixing of phosphatidylcholine (PC) large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) and clearly delineates the synergistic role of the NHR in the fusion event. Furthermore, a mutation in the NHR that renders the virus noninfectious is reflected by a significant reduction in in vitro lipid mixing induced by the mutant, gp41/1-70 (I62D). Additional spectroscopic studies, characterizing membrane binding and apposition induced by the peptides, help to clarify the role of the NHR in membrane fusion.