The Amino-Terminal Region of Major Capsid Protein P3 Is Essential for Self-Assembly of Single-Shelled Core-Like Particles of Rice Dwarf Virus

• DOI: 10.1128/jvi.78.6.3145-3148.2004
• Publication Date: 2004-02-27T21:47:38Z
• Authors: Kyoji Hagiwara; Takahiko Higashi; Naoyuki Miyazaki; Hisashi Naitow; R. Holland Cheng; Atsushi Nakagawa; Hiroshi Mizuno; Tomitake Tsukihara; Toshihiro Omura
• Keywords: Models, Molecular; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Virus Assembly; Virion; Oryza; Reoviridae; Nucleopolyhedroviruses; Cell Line; 3. Good health; Structure-Activity Relationship; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals; Capsid Proteins; Dimerization; Gene Deletion

ABSTRACT

The core protein P3 of Rice dwarf virus constructs asymmetric dimers, one of which is inserted by the amino-terminal region of another P3 protein. The P3 proteins with serial amino-terminal deletions, expressed in a baculovirus system, formed particles with gradually decreasing stability. The capacity for self-assembly disappeared when 52 of the amino-terminal amino acids had been deleted. These results demonstrated that insertion of the amino-terminal arm of one P3 protein into another appears to play an important role in stabilizing the core particles.