Mechanical properties of viruses analyzed by atomic force microscopy: a virological perspective

The advent of nanoscience and nanotechnology and the development of atomic force microscopy and other single-molecule techniques are leading to a renewed look at viruses from the point of view of the physical sciences. As any other solid-state object, virus particles are endowed with mechanical properties such as elasticity or brittleness. Emerging studies on virus mechanics may facilitate the engineering of the physical properties of viruses to improve their potential application in nanotechnology, and may be also relevant to understand virus biology. Viruses are subject to internal and external forces, and as evolving entities they may have selectively adapted their mechanical behavior to resist, or even use, those forces. This article adopts the perspective of structural and molecular virology to review the results obtained to date, using the atomic force microscope, on the mechanical properties of virus particles, their molecular determinants, and possible biological implications.