Journal
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
Volume 64, Issue 12, Pages 1484-1497Publisher
BIRKHAUSER VERLAG AG
DOI: 10.1007/s00018-007-6451-1
Keywords
capsid mechanics; genome packaging; genome delivery; osmotic pressure; atomic force microscopy; optical tweezers; biophysics
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The main functions of viral capsids are to protect, transport and deliver their genome. The mechanical properties of capsids are supposed to be adapted to these tasks. Bacteriophage capsids also need to withstand the high pressures the DNA is exerting onto it as a result of the DNA packaging and its consequent confinement within the capsid. It is proposed that this pressure helps driving the genome into the host, but other mechanisms also seem to play an important role in ejection. DNA packaging and ejection strategies are obviously dependent on the mechanical properties of the capsid. This review focuses on the mechanical properties of viral capsids in general and the elucidation of the biophysical aspects of genome packaging mechanisms and genome delivery processes of double-stranded DNA bacteriophages in particular.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available