Characterization of filovirus protein-protein interactions in mammalian cells using bimolecular complementation.

ABSTRACT: The virion protein 40 (VP40) and nucleoprotein (NP) of Ebola (EBOV) and Marburg viruses (MARV) play key roles during virion assembly and egress. The ability to detect interactions between VP40-VP40, VP40-NP, and NP-NP and follow these complexes as they traffic through mammalian cells would enhance our understanding of the molecular events leading to filovirus assembly and budding, and provide new insights into filovirus replication and pathogenesis. Here, we successfully employed a bimolecular complementation (BiMC) approach to visualize interactions between EBOV and MARV VP40-VP40, NP-NP, and VP40-NP proteins and localize these protein complexes in mammalian cells using confocal microscopy. We demonstrate that VP40-VP40 complexes localized predominantly at the plasma membrane, whereas VP4

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3189979 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature