Crystal structure of glycoprotein C from a hantavirus in the post-fusion conformation

DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005948

Authors: Shmuel Willensky (Bar Ilan University) , Hagit Bar-Rogovsky (Bar-Ilan University) , Eduardo A. Bignon (Fundación Ciencia & Vida) , Nicole D. Tischler (Fundación Ciencia & Vida) , Yorgo Modis (University of Cambridge) , Moshe Dessau (Bar Ilan University)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Plos Pathogens , VOL 12

State: Published (Approved)
Published: October 2016
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 15916

Abstract: Hantaviruses are important emerging human pathogens and are the causative agents of serious diseases in humans with high mortality rates. Like other members in the Bunyaviridae family their M segment encodes two glycoproteins, GN and GC, which are responsible for the early events of infection. Hantaviruses deliver their tripartite genome into the cytoplasm by fusion of the viral and endosomal membranes in response to the reduced pH of the endosome. Unlike phleboviruses (e.g. Rift valley fever virus), that have an icosahedral glycoprotein envelope, hantaviruses display a pleomorphic virion morphology as GN and GC assemble into spikes with apparent four-fold symmetry organized in a grid-like pattern on the viral membrane. Here we present the crystal structure of glycoprotein C (GC) from Puumala virus (PUUV), a representative member of the Hantavirus genus. The crystal structure shows GC as the membrane fusion effector of PUUV and it presents a class II membrane fusion protein fold. Furthermore, GC was crystallized in its post-fusion trimeric conformation that until now had been observed only in Flavi- and Togaviridae family members. The PUUV GC structure together with our functional data provides intriguing evolutionary and mechanistic insights into class II membrane fusion proteins and reveals new targets for membrane fusion inhibitors against these important pathogens

Journal Keywords: Membrane fusion; Viral structure; Crystal structure; Andes virus; Protein structure; Protein structure comparison; Hantavirus; Cell fusion

Diamond Keywords: Hantaviruses; Viruses

Subject Areas: Biology and Bio-materials


Instruments: I04-Macromolecular Crystallography

Other Facilities: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Added On: 23/11/2016 16:29

Documents:
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Discipline Tags:

Pathogens Infectious Diseases Health & Wellbeing Structural biology Life Sciences & Biotech

Technical Tags:

Diffraction Macromolecular Crystallography (MX)