Packaging contests between viral RNA molecules and kinetic selectivity.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mizrahi I
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9022832 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Packaging contests between viral RNA molecules and kinetic selectivity.
Mizrahi Inbal I Bruinsma Robijn R Rudnick Joseph J
PLoS computational biology 20220401 4
The paper presents a statistical-mechanics model for the kinetic selection of viral RNA molecules by packaging signals during the nucleation stage of the assembly of small RNA viruses. The effects of the RNA secondary structure and folding geometry of the packaging signals on the assembly activation energy barrier are encoded by a pair of characteristics: the wrapping number and the maximum ladder distance. Kinetic selection is found to be optimal when assembly takes place under conditions of su ...[more]
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