Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Nature. 2008 May 15;453(7193):415-9. Epub 2008 Apr 30.
Related Articles, Links
Click here to read Click here to read
3.88 A structure of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus by cryo-electron microscopy.

Yu X, Jin L, Zhou ZH.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

Cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) is unique within the Reoviridae family in having a turreted single-layer capsid contained within polyhedrin inclusion bodies, yet being fully capable of cell entry and endogenous RNA transcription. Biochemical data have shown that the amino-terminal 79 residues of the CPV turret protein (TP) is sufficient to bring CPV or engineered proteins into the polyhedrin matrix for micro-encapsulation. Here we report the three-dimensional structure of CPV at 3.88 A resolution using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. Our map clearly shows the turns and deep grooves of alpha-helices, the strand separation in beta-sheets, and densities for loops and many bulky side chains; thus permitting atomic model-building effort from cryo-electron microscopy maps. We observed a helix-to-beta-hairpin conformational change between the two conformational states of the capsid shell protein in the region directly interacting with genomic RNA. We have also discovered a messenger RNA release hole coupled with the mRNA capping machinery unique to CPV. Furthermore, we have identified the polyhedrin-binding domain, a structure that has potential in nanobiotechnology applications.

Publication Types:
PMID: 18449192 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]