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Updated: May 12, 2026

Purification of Viral DNA for the Identification of Associated Viral and Cellular Proteins
Published on: August 31, 2017
Viral precursor polyproteins: keys of regulation from replication to maturation
Samantha A Yost1, Joseph Marcotrigiano
1Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, 679 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States.
Abstract:
Many viruses use a replication strategy involving the translation of a large polyprotein, which is cleaved by viral and/or cellular proteases. Several of these viruses severely impact human health around the globe, including HIV, HCV, Dengue virus, and West Nile virus. This method of genome organization has many benefits to the virus such as condensation of genetic material, as well as temporal and spatial regulation of protein activity depending on polyprotein cleavage state. The study of polyprotein precursors is necessary to fully understand viral infection, and identify possible new drug targets; however, few atomic structures are currently available. Presented here are structures of four recent polyprotein precursors from viruses with a positive sense RNA genome.
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