Nonicosahedral pathways for capsid expansion

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nonicosahedral pathways for capsid expansion

AU - Cermelli, Paolo

AU - Indelicato, G.

AU - Twarock, R.

PY - 2013/9/16

Y1 - 2013/9/16

N2 - For a significant number of viruses a structural transition of the protein container that encapsulates the viral genome forms an important part of the life cycle and is a prerequisite for the particle becoming infectious. Despite many recent efforts the mechanism of this process is still not fully understood, and a complete characterization of the expansion pathways is still lacking. We present here a coarse-grained model that captures the essential features of the expansion process and allows us to investigate the conditions under which a viral capsid becomes unstable. Based on this model we demonstrate that the structural transitions in icosahedral viral capsids are likely to occur through a low-symmetry cascade of local expansion events spreading in a wavelike manner over the capsid surface.

AB - For a significant number of viruses a structural transition of the protein container that encapsulates the viral genome forms an important part of the life cycle and is a prerequisite for the particle becoming infectious. Despite many recent efforts the mechanism of this process is still not fully understood, and a complete characterization of the expansion pathways is still lacking. We present here a coarse-grained model that captures the essential features of the expansion process and allows us to investigate the conditions under which a viral capsid becomes unstable. Based on this model we demonstrate that the structural transitions in icosahedral viral capsids are likely to occur through a low-symmetry cascade of local expansion events spreading in a wavelike manner over the capsid surface.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885135060&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.88.032710

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.88.032710

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84885135060

SN - 1539-3755

VL - 88

JO - Physical Review E

JF - Physical Review E

IS - 3

M1 - 032710

ER -