X-ray crystallographic structure of the Norwalk virus capsid - PubMed (original) (raw)

X-ray crystallographic structure of the Norwalk virus capsid

B V Prasad et al. Science. 1999.

Abstract

Norwalk virus, a noncultivatable human calicivirus, is the major cause of epidemic gastroenteritis in humans. The first x-ray structure of a calicivirus capsid, which consists of 180 copies of a single protein, has been determined by phase extension from a low-resolution electron microscopy structure. The capsid protein has a protruding (P) domain connected by a flexible hinge to a shell (S) domain that has a classical eight-stranded beta-sandwich motif. The structure of the P domain is unlike that of any other viral protein with a subdomain exhibiting a fold similar to that of the second domain in the eukaryotic translation elongation factor-Tu. This subdomain, located at the exterior of the capsid, has the largest sequence variation among Norwalk-like human caliciviruses and is likely to contain the determinants of strain specificity and cell binding.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources