Abstract
Many geometric forms are found in nature, some of them adhering to mathematical laws or amazing aesthetic rules. One of the best-known examples in microbiology is the icosahedral shape of certain viruses with 20 triangular facets and 12 edges. What is less known, however, is that a complementary object displaying 12 faces and 20 edges called a ‘dodecahedron’ can be produced in huge amounts during certain adenovirus replication cycles. The decahedron was first described more than 50 years ago in the human adenovirus (HAdV3) viral cycle. Later on, the expression of this recombinant scaffold, combined with improvements in cryo-electron microscopy, made it possible to decipher the structural determinants underlying their architecture. Recently, this particle, which mimics viral entry, was used to fish the long elusive adenovirus receptor, desmoglein-2, which serves as a cellular docking for some adenovirus serotypes. This breakthrough enabled the understanding of the physiological role played by the dodecahedral particles, showing that icosahedral and dodecahedral particles live more than a simple platonic story. All these points are developed in this review, and the potential use of the dodecahedron in therapeutic development is discussed.
Highlights
Introduction to AdenovirusesAdenoviruses are non-enveloped viruses with a diameter between 70 and 90 nm, presenting an icosahedral capsid
The number of dodecahedral particles produced per human cell infected by HAdV3 in culture was estimated to be about 7.5 × 105, which is much more than the number of infectious virions, reinforcing the idea that this particle does play a role in the viral cycle
monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) alone was not able to be internalized by cells, this data highlights the capacity of dodecahedrons to allow transduction of a high molecular weight protein into cells
Summary
Adenoviruses are non-enveloped viruses with a diameter between 70 and 90 nm, presenting an icosahedral capsid. (identical in shape and size), regular polygonal such assides equilateral triangles, squares, or pentagons, meeting at each vertex Five solids meet these criteria: the tetrahedron (4these triangular faces), such as equilateral triangles, squares, or pentagons, meeting at each vertex These solids can be inscribed into a sphere. The tetrahedron is of self-dual, while cube and the the solids dual pair have number of edges, and the number vertexes of the one corresponds to the number of faces of another. The tetrahedron is self-dual, while the cube and the octahedron form a dual pair, and the dodecahedron and icosahedron form another to the number of faces of another. During the adenoviral natural replication cycle, adenoviruses, possess an icosahedral viral capsid. Dodecahedrons and icosahedrons are dual, the adenovirus dodecahedron being an icosahedron when focusing on the vertices and a dodecahedron when focusing on the faces (Table 1)
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