Katz R A, Jentoft J E
Bioessays. 1989 Dec;11(6):176-81. doi: 10.1002/bies.950110605.
Retroviruses encode a small, basic nucleocapsid (NC) protein that is found complexed to genomic RNA within the viral particle. The NC protein appears to function not only in a histone-like manner in packaging the RNA into the particle but also in specifically selecting the viral genomic RNA for packaging. A cysteine-histidine (cys-his) region, usually composed of 14 amino acids and reminiscent of the 'zinc fingers' of transcription factors, is the only highly conserved sequence element among the retroviral NC proteins. This review discusses the biochemical properties of NC, and its possible role(s) in retroviral replication. We also speculate on how the biochemical properties may relate to its function in RNA recognition and packaging.
逆转录病毒编码一种小的碱性核衣壳（NC）蛋白，该蛋白在病毒颗粒内与基因组RNA结合。NC蛋白似乎不仅以组蛋白样方式将RNA包装到颗粒中，还在特异性选择用于包装的病毒基因组RNA方面发挥作用。半胱氨酸 - 组氨酸（cys-his）区域通常由14个氨基酸组成，让人联想到转录因子的“锌指”，是逆转录病毒NC蛋白中唯一高度保守的序列元件。本文综述了NC的生化特性及其在逆转录病毒复制中的可能作用。我们还推测了这些生化特性如何与其在RNA识别和包装中的功能相关。
