The SV40 late protein VP4 is a viroporin that forms pores to disrupt membranes for viral release.

ABSTRACT: Nonenveloped viruses are generally released by the timely lysis of the host cell by a poorly understood process. For the nonenveloped virus SV40, virions assemble in the nucleus and then must be released from the host cell without being encapsulated by cellular membranes. This process appears to involve the well-controlled insertion of viral proteins into host cellular membranes rendering them permeable to large molecules. VP4 is a newly identified SV40 gene product that is expressed at late times during the viral life cycle that corresponds to the time of cell lysis. To investigate the role of this late expressed protein in viral release, water-soluble VP4 was expressed and purified as a GST fusion protein from bacteria. Purified VP4 was found to efficiently bind biological membranes and

SUBMITTER: Raghava S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3128117 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature