title: Crystal structure of the West Nile virus envelope glycoprotein.
abstract: The envelope glycoprotein (E) of West Nile virus (WNV) undergoes a conformational rearrangement triggered by low pH that results in a class II fusion event required for viral entry. Herein we present the 3.0-A crystal structure of the ectodomain of WNV E, which reveals insights into the flavivirus life cycle. We found that WNV E adopts a three-domain architecture that is shared by the E proteins from dengue and tick-borne encephalitis viruses and forms a rod-shaped configuration similar to that observed in immature flavivirus particles. Interestingly, the single N-linked glycosylation site on WNV E is displaced by a novel alpha-helix, which could potentially alter lectin-mediated attachment. The localization of histidines within the hinge regions of E implicates these residues in pH-induced conformational transitions. Most strikingly, the WNV E ectodomain crystallized as a monomer, in contrast to other flavivirus E proteins, which have crystallized as antiparallel dimers. WNV E assembles in a crystalline lattice of perpendicular molecules, with the fusion loop of one E protein buried in a hydrophobic pocket at the DI-DIII interface of another. Dimeric E proteins pack their fusion loops into analogous pockets at the dimer interface. We speculate that E proteins could pivot around the fusion loop-pocket junction, allowing virion conformational transitions while minimizing fusion loop exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology & Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8118, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110-1093, USA.
authors.forename: Grant E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Nybakken
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Beverly R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: Daved H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Fremont
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016367:Baculoviridae; D002460:Cell Line; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins