Capsomer

Capsid of the adenovirus with the individual capsomeres

A capsomer ( suitcase word made of capsid and monomer ) is a protein subunit that makes up the capsid of viruses .

properties

Capsomeres can be divided into different types according to the symmetry of the multimerization . The icosahedral capsomeres form a 20-sided polyhedron with 12 points of intersection and occur at the points of intersection as pentagonal (with 12 pentons) or hexagonal (with a varying number of hexons) shapes. There is an occasional pore in the center of each of the twenty surfaces . The helical capsomers ( protomers ) are often wedge-shaped and form a helical capsid. The complex capsomeres have different shapes, e.g. B. in capsids of smallpox viruses , HIV or rhabdoviruses .

The symmetrical arrangement of the same proteins reduces the size of the viral genome , since only one or a few genes code the proteins for the capsid , which in the course of an immune evasion offers the immune system fewer opportunities to attack. In addition to the packaging function, some capsomeres have a receptor function and a fusogenic function.

application

Capsomeres are used in virus-like particles for vaccination purposes.

literature

David M. Knipe, Peter M. Howley (Eds.): Fields Virology. 2 volumes. 5th edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia PA 2007, ISBN 978-0-7817-6060-7 .

Individual evidence

^ KC Dent, R. Thompson, AM Barker, JA Hiscox, JN Barr, PG Stockley, NA Ranson: The asymmetric structure of an icosahedral virus bound to its receptor suggests a mechanism for genome release. In: Structure (London, England: 1993). Volume 21, Number 7, July 2013, pp. 1225-1234, ISSN 1878-4186 . doi : 10.1016 / j.str.2013.05.012 . PMID 23810697 . PMC 3701328 (free full text).
^ LH Lua, NK Connors, F. Sainsbury, YP Chuan, N. Wibowo, AP Middelberg: Bioengineering virus-like particles as vaccines. In: Biotechnology and bioengineering. Volume 111, Number 3, March 2014, pp. 425-440, ISSN 1097-0290 . doi : 10.1002 / bit.25159 . PMID 24347238 .

[1] KC Dent, R. Thompson, AM Barker, JA Hiscox, JN Barr, PG Stockley, NA Ranson: The asymmetric structure of an icosahedral virus bound to its receptor suggests a mechanism for genome release. In: Structure (London, England: 1993). Volume 21, Number 7, July 2013, pp. 1225-1234, ISSN 1878-4186 . doi : 10.1016 / j.str.2013.05.012 . PMID 23810697 . PMC 3701328 (free full text).

[2] LH Lua, NK Connors, F. Sainsbury, YP Chuan, N. Wibowo, AP Middelberg: Bioengineering virus-like particles as vaccines. In: Biotechnology and bioengineering. Volume 111, Number 3, March 2014, pp. 425-440, ISSN 1097-0290 . doi : 10.1002 / bit.25159 . PMID 24347238 .