3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF A MEMBRANE-CONTAINING VIRUS

Citation
Am. Paredes et al., 3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF A MEMBRANE-CONTAINING VIRUS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 90(19), 1993, pp. 9095-9099
Citations number
30
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ISSN journal
00278424
Volume
90
Issue
19
Year of publication
1993
Pages
9095 - 9099
Database
ISI
SICI code
0027-8424(1993)90:19<9095:3SOAMV>2.0.ZU;2-U
Abstract
The structure of Sindbis virus was determined by electron cryomicrosco py. The virion contains two icosahedral shells of viral-encoded protei ns separated by a membrane bilayer of cellular origin. The three-dimen sional structure of the ice-embedded intact Sindbis virus, reconstruct ed from electron images, unambiguously shows that proteins in both she lls are arranged with the same icosahedral lattice of triangulation nu mber T = 4. These studies also provide structural evidence of contact between the glycoprotein and the nucleocapsid protein across the membr ane bilayer. The structural organization of Sindbis virus has profound implications for the morphogenesis of the alphaviruses. The observed interactions confirm stoichiometric and specific protein associations that may be crucial for virion stability and predict a mechanism for a ssembly.