Article
Virology
Brianna M. Woodbury, Tina Motwani, Makayla N. Leroux, Lauren F. Barnes, Nicholas A. Lyktey, Sanchari Banerjee, Corynne L. Dedeo, Martin F. Jarrold, Carolyn M. Teschke
Summary: This study demonstrates the crucial role of specific tryptophan residues within the wing domain of the bacteriophage P22 portal protein in its function and assembly.
Article
Virology
Clotilde Muller, Sophie Alain, Claire Gourin, Thomas F. Baumert, Gaetan Ligat, Sebastien Hantz
Summary: Researchers analyzed the terminase complex of human cytomegalovirus and identified conserved regions and potential functional motifs within pUL52. These findings reveal the importance of these regions in viral replication and provide potential targets for the development of new antiviral drugs.
Article
Virology
Helios Murialdo, Michael Feiss
Summary: PICIs are similar to defective prophages in Gram-negative bacteria, requiring helper phages for replication. Infection with a helper phage or induction of prophages leads to excision, replication, and packaging of PICIs. PICIs hijack virion assembly functions to enable DNA packaging.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ravi K. Lokareddy, Chun-Feng David Hou, Steven G. Doll, Fenglin Li, Richard E. Gillilan, Francesca Forti, David S. Horner, Federica Briani, Gino Cingolani
Summary: This study explores the terminase subunits of Pseudomonas phages and reveals the structure and function of TerL and TerS subunits. TerL consists of an ATPase and nuclease domain, while TerS forms a ring-like decamer structure. These findings are important for understanding the DNA packaging process of Pseudomonas phages and their application in phage therapy.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Virology
Emma S. Esterman, Yuri Wolf, Roman Kogay, Eugene Koonin, Olga Zhaxybayeva
Summary: Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are virus-like particles produced by bacteria and archaea that can transfer genes within communities. GTAs are thought to have evolved from viruses and maintained in prokaryotic genomes due to their DNA transfer capacity. The most-studied GTA, produced by Rhodobacter capsulatus, evolved from a headful packaging virus to be able to package random pieces of the host genome.
Article
Microbiology
Eva Maria Borst, Sarah Harmening, Saskia Sanders, Enrico Caragliano, Karen Wagner, Tihana Lenac Rovis, Stipan Jonjic, Jens Bernhard Bosse, Martin Messerle
Summary: In human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), the small capsid protein (SCP) plays an essential role in ensuring stable levels of major capsid protein (MCP) and their mutual dependence guarantees appropriate levels of the other respective protein. The study provides insights into the mechanism of capsid assembly and identifies SCP as a potential target for antiviral inhibitors.
Article
Virology
Elizabeth T. Ogunbunmi, Aaron P. Roznowski, Bentley A. Fane
Summary: Most icosahedral viruses condense their genomes into volume-constrained capsids, but ssDNA viruses have specific genome biosynthesis and packaging mechanisms. The packaging of ssDNA genomes combines elements from both dsDNA and ssRNA systems, potentially affecting both packaging and postpackaging phenomena.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matthew D. J. Dicks, Louisa M. Rose, Rebecca A. Russell, Lesley A. H. Bowman, Carl Graham, Jose M. Jimenez-Guardeno, Katie J. Doores, Michael H. Malim, Simon J. Draper, Mark Howarth, Sumi Biswas
Summary: This study describes a system that allows for the display of antigens on the surface of adenovirus vectors, resulting in potent humoral immunity. By using a protein superglue, antigens can be attached to the adenovirus capsid, improving the efficacy and boostability of the vaccine. Capsid decoration shields the virus particles from neutralizing antibodies.
Review
Biology
Clotilde Muller, Sophie Alain, Thomas F. Baumert, Gaetan Ligat, Sebastien Hantz
Summary: Recent research on drug treatment against human herpesvirus infections found that a terminase inhibitor is effective against cytomegalovirus, but shows limited activity against other herpesviruses. Therefore, there is a need to develop new antivirals targeting other replication steps, with fewer adverse effects. Targeting capsid assembly or DNA packaging provides additional options for developing new drugs.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nada Farag, Milan Dordevic, Erica Del Grosso, Francesco Ricci
Summary: This paper demonstrates an approach to achieve dynamic and reversible decoration of DNA-based scaffolds. Engineered DNA tiles with enzyme-responsive strands conjugated to different molecular labels are used. These strands are designed to be recognized and degraded by specific enzymes, inducing the replacement of them with new strands attached to different labels. Multiple enzyme-responsive strands allow for dynamic, orthogonal, and reversible decoration of DNA structures. The approach enables the control of the distribution of different labels on the same scaffold without crosstalk, leading to DNA scaffolds with different antibody recognition patterns.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Nikita Zrelovs, Juris Jansons, Andris Dislers, Andris Kazaks
Summary: This study reports on the genomic characterization of an insect associated Morganella sp. phage, Mecenats66, isolated from dead worker honeybees. The phage was found to employ a headful packaging strategy with a preferred packaging initiation site, representing an evolutionarily distinct subtype. These findings could aid in predicting packaging strategies of newly isolated phages in the future.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Priscilla L. S. Boon, Ana S. Martins, Xin Ni Lim, Francisco J. Enguita, Nuno C. Santos, Peter J. Bond, Yue Wan, Ivo C. Martins, Roland G. Huber
Summary: Dengue virus is a significant health risk in tropical and subtropical regions. The structure of the packaged genome in complex with C proteins remains elusive. This study investigates the interactions of C proteins with viral RNA and shows their role in coordinating key interactions for proper packaging of viral RNA.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paul Gottlieb, Aleksandra Alimova
Summary: This review discusses the progress in the study of Cystoviridae, focusing on the structure and dynamic changes of proteins during RNA packaging and replication mechanisms. These studies are important for understanding the viral assembly process.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Declan L. Turner, Rachel M. Templin, Adele A. Barugahare, Brendan E. Russ, Stephen J. Turner, Georg Ramm, Rommel A. Mathias
Summary: UL34 is a viral protein expressed with leaky late kinetics and primarily located in the nucleus during infection. Deletion of UL34 from the HCMV genome did not stop viral spread, but significantly reduced the production of infectious virions by over 100-fold, indicating that UL34 is an augmenting gene in HCMV infection.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Adriana Gonzalez-Sandoval, Katja Pekrun, Shinnosuke Tsuji, Feijie Zhang, King L. Hung, Howard Y. Chang, Mark A. Kay
Summary: The effectiveness of rAAV vectors varies between species, and a single amino acid change in the vector can alter its epigenomic state and transgene expression levels between species.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)