title: Thermal transition of native tobacco mosaic virus and RNA-free viral proteins into spherical nanoparticles.
abstract: Spherical nanoparticles (SNPs) were generated by two-step thermal remodelling of native tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) at 94 °C. Particles of irregular shape and varying size were generated by TMV at 90 °C. They could be converted into SNPs by heating at 94 °C and were considered to be intermediate precursors of SNPs. In addition to SNP monomers (53 nm diameter), generated by individual TMV virions, large SNPs (100-800 nm diameter) were assembled. The size of the SNPs depended on the TMV concentration. The SNPs could be generated by distinct forms of RNA-free TMV coat protein (CP) aggregates and individual CP subunits. A one-step SNP assembly appeared to occur in these cases. These results show that SNPs represent a new type of particle nanoplatform for producing compositions of SNPs with foreign protein molecules bound to their surface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia. atabekov@genebee.msu.su
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Atabekov
authors.forename: Nikolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nikitin
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arkhipenko
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chirkov
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karpova
mesh_terms: D006358:Hot Temperature; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins