Abstract
The successful assembly of a closed protein shell (or capsid) is a key step in the replication of viruses and in the production of artificial viral cages for bio/nanotechnological applications. During self-assembly, the favorable binding energy competes with the energetic cost of the growing edge and the elastic stresses generated due to the curvature of the capsid. As a result, incomplete structures such as open caps, cylindrical or ribbon-shaped shells may emerge, preventing the successful replication of viruses. Using elasticity theory and coarse-grained simulations, we analyze the conditions required for these processes to occur and their significance for empty virus self-assembly. We find that the outcome of the assembly can be recast into a universal phase diagram showing that viruses with high mechanical resistance cannot be self-assembled directly as spherical structures. The results of our study justify the need of a maturation step and suggest promising routes to hinder viral infections by inducing mis-assembly.
Highlights
Viruses are fascinating biological and nanoscale systems (Douglas and Young, 2006; Wen and Steinmetz, 2016)
The continuous description of the assembly of empty spherical viral capsids is based on Classical Nucleation Theory (CNT) (Zandi et al, 2006)
We have provided a comprehensive analysis of non-templated assembly of curved elastic shells, taking into account all relevant ingredients and the potential formation of non-spherical shapes
Summary
Viruses are fascinating biological and nanoscale systems (Douglas and Young, 2006; Wen and Steinmetz, 2016). These tiny pathogens are formed by a chain of RNA or DNA encased in a protein shell, known as capsid, made from multiple copies of a single protein (Flint et al, 2004). Despite this apparent simplicity, viruses are able to perform many complex functions which are essential in their replication cycle. The resulting structure has a precise architecture, which in most cases is spherical with icosahedral symmetry (Roos et al, 2010) Several viruses assemble their capsid before packaging the genetic material. The proteins of many viruses have the ability to self-assemble in vitro, even in the absence of genetic material, forming empty capsids
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