dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaElectrostatics and the Assembly of an RNA Virus
| Authors | P. van der Schoot, R. Bruinsma |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0410032 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0410032 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevE.71.061928 |
Abstract
Electrostatic interactions play a central role in the assembly of single-stranded RNA viruses. Under physiological conditions of salinity and acidity, virus capsid assembly requires the presence of genomic material that is oppositely charged to the core proteins. In this paper we apply basic polymer physics and statistical mechanics methods to the self-assembly of a synthetic virus encapsidating generic polyelectrolyte molecules. We find that (i) the mean concentration of the encapsidated polyelectrolyte material depends on the surface charge density, the radius of the capsid, and the linear charge density of the polymer but neither on the salt concentration or the Kuhn length, (ii) the total charge of the capsid interior is equal but opposite to that of the empty capsid, a form of charge reversal. Unlike natural viruses, synthetic viruses are predicted not to be under an osmotic swelling pressure. The design condition that self-assembly only produces filled capsids is shown to coincide with the condition that the capsid surface charge exceeds the desorption threshold of polymer surface adsorption. We compare our results with studies on the self-assembly of both synthetic and natural viruses.
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"abstract": "Electrostatic interactions play a central role in the assembly of\nsingle-stranded RNA viruses. Under physiological conditions of salinity and\nacidity, virus capsid assembly requires the presence of genomic material that\nis oppositely charged to the core proteins. In this paper we apply basic\npolymer physics and statistical mechanics methods to the self-assembly of a\nsynthetic virus encapsidating generic polyelectrolyte molecules. We find that\n(i) the mean concentration of the encapsidated polyelectrolyte material depends\non the surface charge density, the radius of the capsid, and the linear charge\ndensity of the polymer but neither on the salt concentration or the Kuhn\nlength, (ii) the total charge of the capsid interior is equal but opposite to\nthat of the empty capsid, a form of charge reversal. Unlike natural viruses,\nsynthetic viruses are predicted not to be under an osmotic swelling pressure.\nThe design condition that self-assembly only produces filled capsids is shown\nto coincide with the condition that the capsid surface charge exceeds the\ndesorption threshold of polymer surface adsorption. We compare our results with\nstudies on the self-assembly of both synthetic and natural viruses.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0410032",
"authors": [
"P. van der Schoot",
"R. Bruinsma"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.BM",
"q-bio.SC"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevE.71.061928",
"title": "Electrostatics and the Assembly of an RNA Virus",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0410032"
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