Capsids of tricorn protease studied by electron cryomicroscopy

Tricorn protease from the archaeon Thermoplasma acidophilum acts "downstream" of the proteasome; in conjunction with its aminopeptidase cofactors it converts peptides generated by the proteasome into free amino acids. The basic functional unit of Tricorn is a homohexamer of the 121-kDa subunit, 20 of which can assemble further to form an icosahedral capsid with a molecular mass of 14.6 MDa. We have used electron cryomicroscopy to determine the structure of the Tricorn capsids to a resolution of 1.3 nm.