Boudko Sergei P, Kuhn Richard J, Rossmann Michael G
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054, USA.
J Mol Biol. 2007 Mar 9;366(5):1538-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2006.12.046. Epub 2006 Dec 23.
Hantaviruses can cause hemorrhagic fever with a renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome when transmitted to humans. The nucleocapsid protein of hantaviruses encapsidates viral genomic RNA and associates with transcription and replication complexes. Both the amino and carboxy termini of the nucleocapsid protein had been predicted to form trimers prior to the formation of the ribonucleoprotein. Crystal structures of amino-terminal fragments of the nucleocapsid protein showed the formation of intramolecular antiparallel coiled coils, but not intermolecular trimers. Thus, the amino-terminal part of the nucleocapsid protein is probably insufficient to initiate the trimerization of the full-length molecule.
汉坦病毒传播给人类时可引起肾综合征出血热和汉坦病毒肺综合征。汉坦病毒的核衣壳蛋白包裹病毒基因组RNA，并与转录和复制复合体相关联。在核糖核蛋白形成之前，核衣壳蛋白的氨基和羧基末端均被预测会形成三聚体。核衣壳蛋白氨基末端片段的晶体结构显示形成了分子内反平行卷曲螺旋，但未形成分子间三聚体。因此，核衣壳蛋白的氨基末端部分可能不足以引发全长分子的三聚化。
