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PMID: 18334651 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Manipulation of the mechanical properties of a virus by protein engineering.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 105 ·No. 11 ·2008-03-18 ·Pages 4150-5

Carrasco C, Castellanos M, de Pablo PJ, Mateu MG

Abstract

In a previous study, we showed that the DNA molecule within a spherical virus (the minute virus of mice) plays an architectural role by anisotropically increasing the mechanical stiffness of the virus. A finite element model predicted that this mechanical reinforcement is a consequence of the interaction between crystallographically visible, short DNA patches and the inner capsid wall. We have now tested this model by using protein engineering. Selected amino acid side chains have been truncated to specifically remove major interactions between the capsid and the visible DNA patches, and the effect of the mutations on the stiffness of virus particles has been measured using atomic force microscopy. The mutations do not affect the stiffness of the empty capsid; however, they significantly reduce the difference in stiffness between the DNA-filled virion and the empty capsid. The results (i) reveal that intermolecular interactions between individual chemical groups contribute to the mechanical properties of a supramolecular assembly and (ii) identify specific protein-DNA interactions as the origin of the anisotropic increase in the rigidity of a virus. This study also demonstrates that it is possible to control the mechanical properties of a protein nanoparticle by the rational application of protein engineering based on a mechanical model.

MeSH Terms
Microscopy, Atomic Force Minute Virus of Mice/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Models, Molecular Mutation/genetics Protein Engineering Viral Proteins/chemistry,genetics,metabolism,ultrastructure Virion/chemistry,metabolism,ultrastructure
Chemicals
Viral Proteins
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Carrasco Carolina
Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada C-III and Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Castellanos Milagros
de Pablo Pedro J
Mateu Mauricio G
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.0708017105
Published
2008-03-18
Epub
2008-00-11
Pages
4150-5
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC2393779
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708017105 PMC Full Text View journal details
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