Key characteristics of HIV Env
| Characteristic | Description |
| Neutralization target | Antibodies that can efficiently neutralize HIV do so by interacting with Env. In natural infection, neutralizing antibody elicitation lags behind viral escape within the host. |
| Evasion of neutralization | Evades effective neutralizing antibodies via a mixture of extensive surface glycosylation, interstrain variability, and conformational masking. |
| Instability | Comprises three identical gp120/gp41 proteins weakly linked together. Flexibility means epitopes may be sampled at temporally distinct points. |
| Location | Env is embedded in the viral membrane via the gp41 transmembrane subunit and arrayed at a low density on the virion surface, alongside noninfectious Env variants including gp41 stumps. |
| Characteristic | Description |
| Neutralization target | Antibodies that can efficiently neutralize HIV do so by interacting with Env. In natural infection, neutralizing antibody elicitation lags behind viral escape within the host. |
| Evasion of neutralization | Evades effective neutralizing antibodies via a mixture of extensive surface glycosylation, interstrain variability, and conformational masking. |
| Instability | Comprises three identical gp120/gp41 proteins weakly linked together. Flexibility means epitopes may be sampled at temporally distinct points. |
| Location | Env is embedded in the viral membrane via the gp41 transmembrane subunit and arrayed at a low density on the virion surface, alongside noninfectious Env variants including gp41 stumps. |