Many viruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), use RNA as their genetic material. How viruses harness RNA structure and RNA–protein interactions to control their replication remains obscure. Recent advances in the characterization of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, the enzyme that converts its single-stranded RNA genome into a double-stranded DNA copy, reveal how the reverse transcription complex evolves during initiation. Here we highlight these advances in HIV-1 structural biology and discuss how they are furthering our understanding of HIV and related ribonucleoprotein complexes implicated in viral disease.

许多病毒，包括严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 和人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV)，都使用 RNA 作为其遗传物质。病毒如何利用 RNA 结构和 RNA-蛋白质相互作用来控制它们的复制仍然不清楚。HIV-1 逆转录酶（将其单链 RNA 基因组转化为双链 DNA 拷贝的酶）表征的最新进展揭示了逆转录复合物在启动过程中如何进化。在这里，我们重点介绍 HIV-1 结构生物学的这些进展，并讨论它们如何加深我们对 HIV 和与病毒性疾病有关的相关核糖核蛋白复合物的理解。