Blumberg B M, Giorgi C, Kolakofsky D
Cell. 1983 Feb;32(2):559-67. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90475-0.
The N protein of vesicular stomatitis virus, prepared in a soluble form, was found to self-assemble, and to assemble with RNAs into RNAase-resistant structures with the buoyant density of viral nucleocapsids. It selectively assembled leader RNAs over other viral transcripts. The basis for this selective encapsidation was not the relative size of the viral transcripts or the presence or absence of a 5' cap group, but was sequence-dependent. Partial-assembly experiments demonstrated that leader RNA assembly started within the first 14 nucleotides at the 5' end. Examination of known leader RNA sequences suggests that the sequence responsible for selective assembly by N protein is a five-times-repeated A residue at every third position from the 5' end of the leader chain.
水泡性口炎病毒的N蛋白以可溶形式制备时，被发现能自我组装，并与RNA组装成具有病毒核衣壳浮力密度的抗RNA酶结构。与其他病毒转录本相比，它能选择性地组装前导RNA。这种选择性包装的基础不是病毒转录本的相对大小，也不是5'帽结构的有无，而是依赖于序列。部分组装实验表明，前导RNA的组装在5'端的前14个核苷酸内开始。对已知前导RNA序列的研究表明，负责N蛋白选择性组装的序列是前导链5'端每隔三个位置重复五次的A残基。
