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Virus Crystallography

Fry, Elizabeth ; Logan, Derek LU orcid and Stuart, David (1996) In Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 56. p.319-363
Abstract
Crystallography provides a means of visualizing intact virus particles as well as their isolated constituent proteins and enzymes (1, 2, 3) at near-atomic resolution, and is thus an extraordinarily powerful tool in the pursuit of a fuller understanding of the functioning of these simple biological systems. We have already expanded our knowledge of virus evolution, assembly, antigenic variation, and host-cell interactions; further studies will no doubt reveal much more. Although the rewards are enormous, an intact virus structure determination is not a trivial undertaking and entails a significant scaling up in terms of time and resources through all stages of data collection and processing compared to a traditional protein crystallographic... (More)
Crystallography provides a means of visualizing intact virus particles as well as their isolated constituent proteins and enzymes (1, 2, 3) at near-atomic resolution, and is thus an extraordinarily powerful tool in the pursuit of a fuller understanding of the functioning of these simple biological systems. We have already expanded our knowledge of virus evolution, assembly, antigenic variation, and host-cell interactions; further studies will no doubt reveal much more. Although the rewards are enormous, an intact virus structure determination is not a trivial undertaking and entails a significant scaling up in terms of time and resources through all stages of data collection and processing compared to a traditional protein crystallographic structure determination. It is the methodology required for such studies that will be the focus of this chapter. The computational requirements were satisfied in the late 1970s, and when combined with the introduction of phase improvement techniques utilizing the virus symmetry (4,5), the application of crystallography to these massive macromolecular assemblies became feasible. This led to the determination of the first virus structure (the small RNA plant virus, tomato bushy stunt virus), by Harrison and coworkers in 1978 (6). The structures of two other plant viruses followed rapidly (7,8). In the 1980s, a major focus of attention was a family of animal RNA viruses; the Picornaviridae. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Crystallographic Methods and Protocols
series title
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
editor
Jones, Christopher ; Mulloy, Barbara and Sanderson, Mark R.
volume
56
pages
45 pages
publisher
Humana Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:0029689873
  • pmid:8781252
ISSN
1064-3745
ISBN
978-1-59259-543-3
978-1-4899-4043-8
DOI
10.1385/0-89603-259-0:319
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
a5d7dd10-ab47-40b8-b5d2-efd515e705a1
date added to LUP
2022-04-25 11:29:51
date last changed
2024-04-18 07:51:52
@inbook{a5d7dd10-ab47-40b8-b5d2-efd515e705a1,
  abstract     = {{Crystallography provides a means of visualizing intact virus particles as well as their isolated constituent proteins and enzymes (1, 2, 3) at near-atomic resolution, and is thus an extraordinarily powerful tool in the pursuit of a fuller understanding of the functioning of these simple biological systems. We have already expanded our knowledge of virus evolution, assembly, antigenic variation, and host-cell interactions; further studies will no doubt reveal much more. Although the rewards are enormous, an intact virus structure determination is not a trivial undertaking and entails a significant scaling up in terms of time and resources through all stages of data collection and processing compared to a traditional protein crystallographic structure determination. It is the methodology required for such studies that will be the focus of this chapter. The computational requirements were satisfied in the late 1970s, and when combined with the introduction of phase improvement techniques utilizing the virus symmetry (4,5), the application of crystallography to these massive macromolecular assemblies became feasible. This led to the determination of the first virus structure (the small RNA plant virus, tomato bushy stunt virus), by Harrison and coworkers in 1978 (6). The structures of two other plant viruses followed rapidly (7,8). In the 1980s, a major focus of attention was a family of animal RNA viruses; the Picornaviridae.}},
  author       = {{Fry, Elizabeth and Logan, Derek and Stuart, David}},
  booktitle    = {{Crystallographic Methods and Protocols}},
  editor       = {{Jones, Christopher and Mulloy, Barbara and Sanderson, Mark R.}},
  isbn         = {{978-1-59259-543-3}},
  issn         = {{1064-3745}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{319--363}},
  publisher    = {{Humana Press}},
  series       = {{Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)}},
  title        = {{Virus Crystallography}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-259-0:319}},
  doi          = {{10.1385/0-89603-259-0:319}},
  volume       = {{56}},
  year         = {{1996}},
}