Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa.
Virology. 2014 May;456-457:279-91. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2014.03.030. Epub 2014 Apr 19.
African horse sickness virus (AHSV) VP7 is the major core protein of the virion. Apart from its role in virus assembly, VP7 forms crystalline-like particles during infection and when expressed in insect cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the process of VP7 crystalline-like particle formation. The intracellular distribution of VP7 was characterized in different systems and the association of VP7 with virus factories during AHSV infection was investigated. It was shown that the majority of VP7 is sequestered into these particles, and is therefore not available for new virion assembly. This is likely to have a negative impact on virus assembly and yield. By using specific markers and inhibitors of host trafficking pathways, VP7 localization was shown to be independent of host trafficking mechanisms and evaded host defenses against aggregation. Studying the process of VP7 crystalline-like particle formation will help us further understand AHSV replication and assembly.
非洲马瘟病毒（AHSV）VP7 是病毒粒子的主要核心蛋白。除了在病毒组装中的作用外，VP7 在感染期间和在昆虫细胞中表达时形成结晶样颗粒。本研究旨在研究 VP7 结晶样颗粒形成的过程。在不同系统中对 VP7 的细胞内分布进行了表征，并研究了 AHSV 感染过程中 VP7 与病毒工厂的关联。结果表明，大多数 VP7 被隔离到这些颗粒中，因此无法用于新的病毒粒子组装。这可能对病毒组装和产量产生负面影响。通过使用特定的标记物和宿主运输途径抑制剂，证明 VP7 的定位独立于宿主运输机制，并逃避了宿主对聚集的防御。研究 VP7 结晶样颗粒形成的过程将有助于我们进一步了解 AHSV 的复制和组装。
