Neuman Benjamin W, Adair Brian D, Yoshioka Craig, Quispe Joel D, Orca Gretchen, Kuhn Peter, Milligan Ronald A, Yeager Mark, Buchmeier Michael J
Department of Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
J Virol. 2006 Aug;80(16):7918-28. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00645-06.
Coronavirus particles are enveloped and pleomorphic and are thus refractory to crystallization and symmetry-assisted reconstruction. A novel methodology of single-particle image analysis was applied to selected virus features to obtain a detailed model of the oligomeric state and spatial relationships among viral structural proteins. Two-dimensional images of the S, M, and N structural proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and two other coronaviruses were refined to a resolution of approximately 4 nm. Proteins near the viral membrane were arranged in overlapping lattices surrounding a disordered core. Trimeric glycoprotein spikes were in register with four underlying ribonucleoprotein densities. However, the spikes were dispensable for ribonucleoprotein lattice formation. The ribonucleoprotein particles displayed coiled shapes when released from the viral membrane. Our results contribute to the understanding of the assembly pathway used by coronaviruses and other pleomorphic viruses and provide the first detailed view of coronavirus ultrastructure.
冠状病毒颗粒具有包膜且形态多样，因此难以结晶和进行对称辅助重建。一种新型的单颗粒图像分析方法被应用于选定的病毒特征，以获得病毒结构蛋白寡聚状态和空间关系的详细模型。严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒以及另外两种冠状病毒的S、M和N结构蛋白的二维图像被细化至约4纳米的分辨率。病毒膜附近的蛋白质排列成围绕无序核心的重叠晶格。三聚体糖蛋白刺突与四个潜在的核糖核蛋白密度对齐。然而，刺突对于核糖核蛋白晶格的形成并非必需。核糖核蛋白颗粒从病毒膜释放时呈现出盘绕形状。我们的结果有助于理解冠状病毒和其他多形病毒所采用的组装途径，并提供了冠状病毒超微结构的首个详细视图。
