Surface characterization of the thermal remodeling helical plant virus

PLoS One. 2019 May 31;14(5):e0216905. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216905. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Previously, we have reported that spherical particles (SPs) are formed by the thermal remodeling of rigid helical virions of native tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) at 94°C. SPs have remarkable features: stability, unique adsorption properties and immunostimulation potential. Here we performed a comparative study of the amino acid composition of the SPs and virions surface to characterize their properties and take an important step to understanding the structure of SPs. The results of tritium planigraphy showed that thermal transformation of TMV leads to a significant increase in tritium label incorporation into the following sites of SPs protein: 41-71 а.a. and 93-122 a.a. At the same time, there was a decrease in tritium label incorporation into the N- and C- terminal region (1-15 a.a., 142-158 a.a). The use of complementary physico-chemical methods allowed us to carry out a detailed structural analysis of the surface and to determine the most likely surface areas of SPs. The obtained data make it possible to consider viral protein thermal rearrangements, and to open new opportunities for biologically active complex design using information about SPs surface amino acid composition and methods of non-specific adsorption and bioconjugation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Hot Temperature*
  • Nicotiana / virology
  • Protein Domains
  • Tobacco Mosaic Virus / chemistry*
  • Viral Proteins / chemistry*
  • Virion / chemistry*

Substances

  • Viral Proteins

Grants and funding

The work was supported in part by Russian Science Foundation project No.18-14-00044, https://grant.rscf.ru, (N.A.N.,E.A.E.,J.G.A, O.V.K); Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) project No. RFBR-18-04-00525-a, https://kias.rfbr.ru, (A.L.K., N.V.F.,G.A.B., E.N.B., E.N.D.).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.