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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Vaccinia Reporter Viruses for Quantifying Viral Function at All Stages of Gene Expression
Published on: May 15, 2014
Vaccinia virus N1L protein resembles a B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family protein
Mika Aoyagi1, Dayong Zhai, Chaofang Jin
1Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Abstract:
Poxviruses encode immuno-modulatory proteins capable of subverting host defenses. The poxvirus vaccinia expresses a small 14-kDa protein, N1L, that is critical for virulence. We report the crystal structure of N1L, which reveals an unexpected but striking resemblance to host apoptotic regulators of the B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family. Although N1L lacks detectable Bcl-2 homology (BH) motifs at the sequence level, we show that N1L binds with high affinity to the BH3 peptides of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins in vitro, consistent with a role for N1L in modulating host antiviral defenses.
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