Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Herpes Virus Genome, The Pressure Is On

Bauer, David W. ; Huffman, Jamie B. ; Homa, Fred L. and Evilevitch, Alex LU orcid (2013) In Journal of the American Chemical Society 135(30). p.11216-11221
Abstract
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) packages its micrometers-long double-stranded DNA genome into a nanometer-scale protein shell, termed the capsid. Upon confinement within the capsid, neighboring DNA strands experience repulsive electrostatic and hydration forces as well as bending stress associated with the tight curvature required of packaged DNA. By osmotically suppressing DNA release from HSV-1 capsids, we provide the first experimental evidence of a high internal pressure of tens of atmospheres within a eukaryotic human virus, resulting from the confined genome. Furthermore, the ejection is progressively suppressed by increasing external osmotic pressures, which reveals that internal pressure is capable of powering ejection of the... (More)
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) packages its micrometers-long double-stranded DNA genome into a nanometer-scale protein shell, termed the capsid. Upon confinement within the capsid, neighboring DNA strands experience repulsive electrostatic and hydration forces as well as bending stress associated with the tight curvature required of packaged DNA. By osmotically suppressing DNA release from HSV-1 capsids, we provide the first experimental evidence of a high internal pressure of tens of atmospheres within a eukaryotic human virus, resulting from the confined genome. Furthermore, the ejection is progressively suppressed by increasing external osmotic pressures, which reveals that internal pressure is capable of powering ejection of the entire genome from the viral capsid. Despite billions of years of evolution separating eukaryotic viruses and bacteriophages, pressure-driven DNA ejection has been conserved. This suggests it is a key mechanism for viral infection and thus presents a new target for antiviral therapies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of the American Chemical Society
volume
135
issue
30
pages
11216 - 11221
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • wos:000322752900053
  • scopus:84881078113
  • pmid:23829592
ISSN
1520-5126
DOI
10.1021/ja404008r
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6a1bdbd6-ac0e-48a8-a6d4-f9bedca00862 (old id 4172685)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:42:30
date last changed
2022-03-22 01:29:39
@article{6a1bdbd6-ac0e-48a8-a6d4-f9bedca00862,
  abstract     = {{Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) packages its micrometers-long double-stranded DNA genome into a nanometer-scale protein shell, termed the capsid. Upon confinement within the capsid, neighboring DNA strands experience repulsive electrostatic and hydration forces as well as bending stress associated with the tight curvature required of packaged DNA. By osmotically suppressing DNA release from HSV-1 capsids, we provide the first experimental evidence of a high internal pressure of tens of atmospheres within a eukaryotic human virus, resulting from the confined genome. Furthermore, the ejection is progressively suppressed by increasing external osmotic pressures, which reveals that internal pressure is capable of powering ejection of the entire genome from the viral capsid. Despite billions of years of evolution separating eukaryotic viruses and bacteriophages, pressure-driven DNA ejection has been conserved. This suggests it is a key mechanism for viral infection and thus presents a new target for antiviral therapies.}},
  author       = {{Bauer, David W. and Huffman, Jamie B. and Homa, Fred L. and Evilevitch, Alex}},
  issn         = {{1520-5126}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{30}},
  pages        = {{11216--11221}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Journal of the American Chemical Society}},
  title        = {{Herpes Virus Genome, The Pressure Is On}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja404008r}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/ja404008r}},
  volume       = {{135}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}