title: Oligomerization of hantavirus nucleocapsid protein: analysis of the N-terminal coiled-coil domain.
abstract: Hantaviruses constitute a genus in the family Bunyaviridae. They are enveloped negative-strand RNA viruses with a tripartite genome encoding the nucleocapsid (N) protein, the two surface glycoproteins Gn and Gc, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The N protein is the most abundant component of the virion; it encapsidates genomic RNA segments forming ribonucleoproteins and participates in genome transcription and replication as well as virus assembly. In the course of RNA encapsidation, N protein forms intermediate trimers via head-to-head and tail-to-tail interactions. We analyzed the amino-terminal trimerization domain (amino acid residues 1 to 77) of Tula hantavirus using computer modeling, mammalian two-hybrid assay, and immunofluorescence assay. The results obtained were consistent with the existence of an antiparallel coiled-coil stabilized by interactions between hydrophobic residues. Residues L44, V51, and L58 were important for the N-N interaction; other residues, e.g., L25 and V32, also made a contribution, albeit a modest one. Our alignments of the N-terminal domain of the hantaviral N proteins suggest the coiled-coil structure, and hence the mode of N-protein oligomerization, is conserved among hantaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, P.O. Box 21, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Agne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alminaite
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Halttunen
authors.forename: Vibhor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaheri
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plyusnin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D019281:Dimerization; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins