Assembly of the Ebola Virus Nucleoprotein from a Chaperoned VP35 Complex

Overview

Journal Cell Rep

Publisher Cell Press

Specialties Biology
Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2015 Jun 30

PMID 26119732

Citations 80

Authors

Robert N Kirchdoerfer

Dafna M Abelson

Sheng Li

Malcolm R Wood

Erica Ollmann Saphire

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Ebolavirus NP oligomerizes into helical filaments found at the core of the virion, encapsidates the viral RNA genome, and serves as a scaffold for additional viral proteins within the viral nucleocapsid. We identified a portion of the phosphoprotein homolog VP35 that binds with high affinity to nascent NP and regulates NP assembly and viral genome binding. Removal of the VP35 peptide leads to NP self-assembly via its N-terminal oligomerization arm. NP oligomerization likely causes a conformational change between the NP N- and C-terminal domains, facilitating RNA binding. These functional data are complemented by crystal structures of the NP°-VP35 complex at 2.4 Å resolution. The interactions between NP and VP35 illuminated by these structures are conserved among filoviruses and provide key targets for therapeutic intervention.

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