Catching a virus in the act of RNA release: a novel poliovirus uncoating intermediate characterized by cryo-electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Poliovirus infection requires that the particle undergo a series of conformational transitions that lead to cell entry and genome release. In an effort to understand the conformational changes associated with the release of the RNA genome, we have used cryo-electron microscopy to characterize the structure of the 80S "empty" particles of poliovirus that are thought to represent the final product of the cell entry pathway. Using two-dimensional classification methods, we show that preparations of 80S particles contain at least two structures, which might represent snapshots from a continuous series of conformers. Using three-dimensional reconstruction methods, we have solved the structure of two distinct forms at subnanometric resolution, and we have built and refined pseudoatomic models in

SUBMITTER: Levy HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2863768 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature