title: Crystal structure of the matrix protein VP40 from Ebola virus.
abstract: Ebola virus maturation occurs at the plasma membrane of infected cells and involves the clustering of the viral matrix protein VP40 at the assembly site as well as its interaction with the lipid bilayer. Here we report the X-ray crystal structure of VP40 from Ebola virus at 2.0 A resolution. The crystal structure reveals that Ebola virus VP40 is topologically distinct from all other known viral matrix proteins, consisting of two domains with unique folds, connected by a flexible linker. The C-terminal domain, which is absolutely required for membrane binding, contains large hydrophobic patches that may be involved in the interaction with lipid bilayers. Likewise, a highly basic region is shared between the two domains. The crystal structure reveals how the molecule may be able to switch from a monomeric conformation to a hexameric form, as observed in vitro. Its implications for the assembly process are discussed.
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory Grenoble Outstation, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38000 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dessen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Volchkov
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dolnik
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Klenk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weissenhorn
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D029024:Marburgvirus / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012643:Selenium / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; C080981:VP40 protein, virus; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D014357:Trypsin; D012643:Selenium