Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 27, 2025

Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Published on: July 27, 2021
Self-Assembly of Viral Capsid Proteins Driven by Compressible Nanobubbles
Minmin Zhang1,2, Shuqin Cao3, Aijie Liu3
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Functional Materials and Devices, School of Information and Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Abstract:
Colloidal nanobubbles occur in gas-saturated aqueous solutions following high power water electrolysis. Here the influence of nanobubble solutions on the self-assembly properties of viral capsid proteins (CP) was investigated. Interestingly, we found that gas solutions were able to trigger the self-assembly of CP of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) in the absence of the viral genome, most likely by acting as a negatively charged template. The process was demonstrated by three distinct techniques, namely, dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, nanobubble-induced self-assembly of viral CP was found to depend on protein concentration. Low CP concentrations led to assembly of 18 nm virus-like particles (VLPs), comparable to T = 1 (Casper and Klug triangulation number) virus capsids, whereas high CP concentrations led to 28 nm VLPs (similar to T = 3 capsids). This paves a new route for self-assembly of VLPs.
Related Concept Videos
Protein Complex Assembly
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...
Viral Structure
Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria
Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles
Introduction to Virus
SNAREs and Membrane Fusion
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...

