Molecular Determinants of Flavivirus Virion Assembly

Virion assembly is an important step in the life cycle of all viruses. For viruses of the Flavivirus genus, a group of enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses, the assembly step represents one of the least understood processes in the viral life cycle. While assembly is primarily driven by the viral structural proteins, recent studies suggest that several nonstructural proteins also play key roles in coordinating the assembly and packaging of the viral genome. This review focuses on describing recent advances in our understanding of flavivirus virion assembly, including the intermolecular interactions between the viral structural (capsid) and nonstructural proteins (NS2A and NS2B-NS3), host factors, as well as features of the viral genomic RNA required for efficient flavivirus virion assembly.

Automated summary

Virion assembly is a crucial step in the lifecycle of all viruses, but remains one of the least understood processes for Flavivirus genus. Recent studies show that besides viral structural proteins, nonstructural proteins also play key roles in coordinating assembly and packaging of viral genome. This review highlights recent advances in understanding flavivirus virion assembly, including molecular interactions between viral structural and nonstructural proteins, host factors, and features of viral genomic RNA necessary for efficient assembly.