Nucleocapsid-like structures of Ebola virus reconstructed using electron tomography

J Vet Med Sci. 2005 Mar;67(3):325-8. doi: 10.1292/jvms.67.325.

Abstract

Electron tomography (ET) is a new technique for high resolution, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of pleiomorphic macromolecular complexes, such as virus components. By employing this technique, we resolved the 3D structure of Ebola virus nucleocapsid-like (NC-like) structures in the cytoplasm of cells expressing NP, VP24, and VP35: the minimum components required to form these NC-like structures. Reconstruction of these tubular NC-like structures of Ebola virus showed them to be composed of left-handed helices spaced at short intervals, which is structurally consistent with other non-segmented negative-strand RNA viruses.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Cells, Cultured
  • Ebolavirus / ultrastructure*
  • Humans
  • Nucleocapsid / chemistry*
  • Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • Nucleoproteins / metabolism
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*
  • Viral Core Proteins / metabolism
  • Viral Proteins / metabolism
  • Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins

Substances

  • Nucleocapsid Proteins
  • Nucleoproteins
  • VP24 protein, Ebola virus
  • VP35 protein, filovirus
  • Viral Core Proteins
  • Viral Proteins
  • Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins