Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-7-2018
Abstract
The majority of viruses on Earth form capsids built by multiple copies of one or more types of a coat protein arranged with 532 symmetry, generating an icosahedral shell. This highly repetitive structure is ideal to closely pack identical protein subunits and to enclose the nucleic acid genomes. However, the icosahedral capsid is not merely a passive cage but undergoes dynamic events to promote packaging, maturation and the transfer of the viral genome into the host. These essential processes are often mediated by proteinaceous complexes that interrupt the shell's icosahedral symmetry, providing a gateway through the capsid. In this review, we take an inventory of molecular structures observed either internally, or at the 5-fold vertices of icosahedral DNA viruses that infect bacteria, archea and eukaryotes. Taking advantage of the recent revolution in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and building upon a wealth of crystallographic structures of individual components, we review the design principles of non-icosahedral structural components that interrupt icosahedral symmetry and discuss how these macromolecules play vital roles in genome packaging, ejection and host receptor-binding.
Recommended Citation
Parent, Kristin N.; Schrad, Jason R.; and Cingolani, Gino, "Breaking Symmetry in Viral Icosahedral Capsids as Seen through the Lenses of X-ray Crystallography and Cryo-Electron Microscopy." (2018). Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers. Paper 132.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/bmpfp/132
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
29414851
Language
English
Comments
This article has been peer reviewed. It is the author’s final published version in Viruses
Volume 10, Issue 2, February 2018, Article number 67
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/v10020067. Copyright © Parent et al.