title: Structure of hepatitis E virion-sized particle reveals an RNA-dependent viral assembly pathway.
abstract: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) induces acute hepatitis in humans with a high fatality rate in pregnant women. There is a need for anti-HEV research to understand the assembly process of HEV native capsid. Here, we produced a large virion-sized and a small T=1 capsid by expressing the HEV capsid protein in insect cells with and without the N-terminal 111 residues, respectively, for comparative structural analysis. The virion-sized capsid demonstrates a T=3 icosahedral lattice and contains RNA fragment in contrast to the RNA-free T=1 capsid. However, both capsids shared common decameric organization. The in vitro assembly further demonstrated that HEV capsid protein had the intrinsic ability to form decameric intermediate. Our data suggest that RNA binding is the extrinsic factor essential for the assembly of HEV native capsids.
authors: From the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616; Structural Virology Section, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, SE-14186 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Xing
authors: Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan.
authors: Tian-Cheng
authors: TC
authors: Li
authors: From the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616; Structural Virology Section, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, SE-14186 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Naoyuki
authors: N
authors: Mayazaki
authors: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000.
authors: Martha N
authors: MN
authors: Simon
authors: Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000.
authors: Joseph S
authors: JS
authors: Wall
authors: From the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616.
authors: Mary
authors: M
authors: Moore
authors: From the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616.
authors: Che-Yen
authors: CY
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan.
authors: Naokazu
authors: N
authors: Takeda
authors: Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan.
authors: Takaji
authors: T
authors: Wakita
authors: Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan.
authors: Tatsuo
authors: T
authors: Miyamura
authors: From the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, California 95616. Electronic address: rhch@ucdavis.edu.
authors: R Holland
authors: RH
authors: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D009036:Moths; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019065:Virus Assembly / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral