title: RNA topology remolds electrostatic stabilization of viruses.
abstract: Simple RNA viruses efficiently encapsulate their genome into a nano-sized protein shell: the capsid. Spontaneous coassembly of the genome and the capsid proteins is driven predominantly by electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged RNA and the positively charged inner capsid wall. Using field theoretic formulation we show that the inherently branched RNA secondary structure allows viruses to maximize the amount of encapsulated genome and make assembly more efficient, allowing viral RNAs to out-compete cellular RNAs during replication in infected host cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Gonca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Erdemci-Tandogan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Jef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Group Theory of Polymers and Soft Matter, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands and Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University, Leuvenlaan 4, 3584 CE Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van der Schoot
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, J. Stefan Institute, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia and Department of Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Podgornik
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zandi
mesh_terms: D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008957:Models, Genetic; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D055672:Static Electricity; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral