title: Ebola virus transcription activator VP30 is a zinc-binding protein.
abstract: Ebola virus VP30 is an essential activator of viral transcription. In viral particles, VP30 is closely associated with the nucleocapsid complex. A conspicuous structural feature of VP30 is an unconventional zinc-binding Cys(3)-His motif comprising amino acids 68 to 95. By using a colorimetric zinc-binding assay we found that the VP30-specific Cys(3)-His motif stoichiometrically binds zinc ions in a one-to-one relationship. Substitution of the conserved cysteines and the histidine within the motif led to a complete loss of the capacity for zinc binding. Functional analyses revealed that none of the tested mutations of the proposed zinc-coordinating residues influenced binding of VP30 to nucleocapsid-like particles but, concerning its role in activating viral transcription, all resulted in a protein that was inactive.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie der Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Modrof
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mühlberger
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C094001:VP30 protein, Marburg virus; D014764:Viral Proteins; C017800:zinc-binding protein; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D015032:Zinc