There are two stages generally recognized in the viral capsid assembly: nucleation and elongation. This paper focuses on the nucleation stage and develops mathematical models for HIV-1 viral capsid nucleation based on six-species dynamical systems. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used for parameter fitting to estimate the association and dissociation rates from biological exp...

A complete understanding of herpesvirus morphogenesis requires studies of capsid assembly dynamics in living cells. Although fluorescent tags fused to the VP26 and pUL25 capsid proteins are available, neither of these components is present on the initial capsid assembly, the procapsid. To make procapsids accessible to live-cell imaging, we made a series of recombinant pseudorabies viruses that ...

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 allow...

The C-terminal domain (CTD) of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein is involved in regulating multiple stages of the HBV lifecycle. CTD phosphorylation correlates with pregenomic-RNA encapsidation during capsid assembly, reverse transcription, and viral transport, although the mechanisms remain unknown. In vitro, purified HBV core protein (Cp183) binds any RNA and assembles aggressively, indepe...

Papillomaviruses are a family of nonenveloped DNA tumor viruses. Some sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) types, including HPV type 16 (HPV16), cause cancer of the uterine cervix. Papillomaviruses encode two capsid proteins, L1 and L2. The major capsid protein, L1, can assemble spontaneously into a 72-pentamer icosahedral structure that closely resembles native virions. Although the...

In this study, the capsid proteins of four major serotypes of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) were assessed as the vaccine candidates. Different protein sequences regarding FMDV capsid of O, A, Asia 1 and C type were identified from NCBI Genome Database and UniprotKB. Phylogenetic tree of the four serotypes was developed using ClustalW software. HMMTOP, RANKPEP, Swiss-Model and Vaxign softw...

Viruses are nanoscale entities containing a nucleic acid genome encased in a protein shell called a capsid and in some cases are surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane. This review summarizes the physics that govern the processes by which capsids assemble within their host cells and in vitro. We describe the thermodynamics and kinetics for the assembly of protein subunits into icosahedral capsi...