The viral restriction factor SERINC5 inhibits HIV-1 infection via unknown mechanisms. Sood and co-workers now show that SERINC5 suppresses HIV-1 fusogenicity and increases sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies by perturbing the folding of the fusion machinery. This work advances our understanding of host-virus interactions and provides a compelling case for considering the host immune system in studies of restriction factor mechanisms.
© 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.