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Contact: Gabrielle DeMarco
demarg@rpi.edu
518-276-6542
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Caption: A computer generated image of a cell membrane being "pierced" by HIV peptides. The positively charged HIV peptides (shown in red) are drawn to negatively charged phosphates (shown in yellow) in the cell membrane. When an HIV peptide cannot satisfy itself with the negative charges available on the cell membrane surface it is directly attached to, it reaches through the membrane to grab negatively charged phosphates on the other side, opening a hole in the cell.
Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Angel Garcia
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Related news release: Researchers reveal HIV peptide's possible pathway into the cell
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