Assembly and Budding of Ebolavirus

PLoS Pathogens

Hiroshi Kida¹  Ken Fujii¹  Heinz Feldmann¹  Yukiko Muramoto¹  Yoshihiro Kawaoka²  Ayato Takada²  Jin Hyun Kim³  Hideki Ebihara³  Takeshi Noda⁴  Hiroshi Sagara⁴ 

[1] Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Corporation Agency, Saitama, Japan;Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan;International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan;Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

关键词: Virions;    Viral structure;    Membrane proteins;    Cell membranes;    Protein structure;    Immunoprecipitation;    Cytoplasm;    Protein interactions;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.0020099

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Ebolavirus is responsible for highly lethal hemorrhagic fever. Like all viruses, it must reproduce its various components and assemble them in cells in order to reproduce infectious virions and perpetuate itself. To generate infectious Ebolavirus, a viral genome-protein complex called the nucleocapsid (NC) must be produced and transported to the cell surface, incorporated into virions, and then released from cells. To further our understanding of the Ebolavirus life cycle, we expressed the various viral proteins in mammalian cells and examined them ultrastructurally and biochemically. Expression of nucleoprotein alone led to the formation of helical tubes, which likely serve as a core for the NC. The matrix protein VP40 was found to be critical for transport of NCs to the cell surface and for the incorporation of NCs into virions, where interaction between nucleoprotein and the matrix protein VP40 is likely essential for these processes. Examination of virus-infected cells revealed that virions containing NCs mainly emerge horizontally from the cell surface, whereas empty virions mainly bud vertically, suggesting that horizontal budding is the major mode of Ebolavirus budding. These data form a foundation for the identification and development of potential antiviral agents to combat the devastating disease caused by this virus.

【 授权许可】

CC BY