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Related Experiment Videos

Vaccinia virus: a model system for actin-membrane interactions

S Cudmore1, I Reckmann, G Griffiths

  • 1Cell Biology Programme, EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany.

Journal of Cell Science
|July 1, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Vaccinia virus actin tails form via polarized G-actin recruitment to the virion membrane. This process, crucial for viral motility, involves actin nucleation from the viral surface.

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Virology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Molecular understanding of actin cytoskeleton and cellular membrane interactions is limited.
  • Vaccinia virus provides a model system to study these interactions, inducing actin tail nucleation from its outer membrane.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the detailed structure of vaccinia virus-induced actin tails.
  • To elucidate the mechanism of actin tail formation and the generation of viral motility.

Main Methods:

  • Detailed structural analysis of vaccinia virus actin tails.
  • Rhodamine-actin incorporation experiments to study actin recruitment and polymerization.

Main Results:

  • Actin filaments in vaccinia tails splay up to 45 degrees and reach 0.74 micron length.
  • Unidirectional polarity observed with barbed ends pointing towards the virus.
  • Tail assembly begins with polarized G-actin recruitment, not pre-formed filaments.
  • Actin incorporation occurs solely by nucleation from the viral surface, suggesting blocked filament ends.

Conclusions:

  • Vaccinia virus actin tail formation involves polarized G-actin recruitment and nucleation from the viral surface.
  • Actin nucleation sites on the virus can mimic host cell leading edge dynamics upon plasma membrane fusion.

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