TY - JOUR
T1 - Equilibrium self-assembly of small RNA viruses
AU - Bruinsma, R. F.
AU - Comas-Garcia, M.
AU - Garmann, R. F.
AU - Grosberg, A. Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank as well Michael Hagan and Boris Shklovskii for discussions and comments. R.B. thanks the National Science Foundation (USA) for support under Grant No. DMR-1309423. The work of AYG on this project was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (USA) under Grant No. PHY-1066293. Both A.Y.G. and R.B. wish to thank the Aspen Center for Physics for its hospitality and for hosting a workshop on the physics of viral assembly where some of the work was done.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Physical Society.
PY - 2016/3/9
Y1 - 2016/3/9
N2 - We propose a description for the quasiequilibrium self-assembly of small, single-stranded (ss) RNA viruses whose capsid proteins (CPs) have flexible, positively charged, disordered tails that associate with the negatively charged RNA genome molecules. We describe the assembly of such viruses as the interplay between two coupled phase-transition-like events: the formation of the protein shell (the capsid) by CPs and the condensation of a large ss viral RNA molecule. Electrostatic repulsion between the CPs competes with attractive hydrophobic interactions and attractive interaction between neutralized RNA segments mediated by the tail groups. An assembly diagram is derived in terms of the strength of attractive interactions between CPs and between CPs and the RNA molecules. It is compared with the results of recent studies of viral assembly. We demonstrate that the conventional theory of self-assembly, which does describe the assembly of empty capsids, is in general not applicable to the self-assembly of RNA-encapsidating virions.
AB - We propose a description for the quasiequilibrium self-assembly of small, single-stranded (ss) RNA viruses whose capsid proteins (CPs) have flexible, positively charged, disordered tails that associate with the negatively charged RNA genome molecules. We describe the assembly of such viruses as the interplay between two coupled phase-transition-like events: the formation of the protein shell (the capsid) by CPs and the condensation of a large ss viral RNA molecule. Electrostatic repulsion between the CPs competes with attractive hydrophobic interactions and attractive interaction between neutralized RNA segments mediated by the tail groups. An assembly diagram is derived in terms of the strength of attractive interactions between CPs and between CPs and the RNA molecules. It is compared with the results of recent studies of viral assembly. We demonstrate that the conventional theory of self-assembly, which does describe the assembly of empty capsids, is in general not applicable to the self-assembly of RNA-encapsidating virions.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.032405
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.93.032405
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960877867
VL - 93
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics
SN - 1063-651X
IS - 3
M1 - 032405
ER -