Icosahedral virus structures and the protein data bank.

Area of Science:

• Structural virology
• Molecular biology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Icosahedral virus structural studies have a rich history, advancing crystallographic methods and molecular biology.
• The Protein Data Bank (PDB) has been instrumental in archiving and disseminating viral structure data.
• Early studies focused on small RNA viruses and picornaviruses, progressing to larger, complex viruses like bacteriophages and human pathogens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of the evolution of icosahedral virus structural studies.
• To highlight key methodological advancements driven by viral symmetry.
• To discuss the role of structural data in understanding viral diversity and evolution.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of Protein Data Bank archives.
• Review of crystallographic and cryo-electron microscopy techniques.
• Examination of viral capsid protein domain folds and symmetry principles.

Main Results:

• Identified conserved structural motifs like the beta jelly roll across diverse icosahedral viruses.
• Demonstrated how icosahedral symmetry spurred the development of noncrystallographic symmetry averaging and quasi-equivalence.
• Highlighted the complementary roles of X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy in atomic resolution structure determination.

Conclusions:

• The study of icosahedral viruses has significantly contributed to structural biology and methodology.
• Conserved structural features and symmetry principles are fundamental to viral architecture.
• Resources like the PDB and tools like VIPER are vital for advancing viral structural research.