Solvation, geometry, and assembly of the tobacco mosaic virus.

ABSTRACT: Biological self-assembly is a fundamental aspect in the development of complex structures in nature. A paradigm for such a process is the assembly of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) capsid proteins into helical rods around the viral genome. The self-assembly process of the virus is typically modelled through attractive interactions between protein subunits, however capsid proteins also interact with their aqueous environment through solvation free energy. An open question is what role solvation plays in virus self-assembly. Here, we show that a purely geometric model of nonpolar solvation free energy, the morphometric approach, is sufficient to simulate the assembly of up to three protein subunits of TMV. The lowest solvation free energy states we find in a geometric simulation setting are rema

SUBMITTER: Spirandelli I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11891515 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature