Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34031522›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2021

Plant-expressed virus-like particles reveal the intricate maturation process of a eukaryotic virus.

Roger Castells-Graells, Jonas R S Ribeiro, Tatiana Domitrovic, Emma L Hesketh, Charlotte A Scarff, John E Johnson, Neil A Ranson, David M Lawson, George P Lomonossoff

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Unraveling the maturation pathway of a eukaryotic virus through cryo-EM.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The Journal of general virology · 2026
    Article
  5. Maturation of Viruses.Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2024
    Review
  6. Virus-like nanoparticles as a theranostic platform for cancer.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Roger Castells-GraellsDepartment of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Colney, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3985-6194
Jonas R S RibeiroVirology Department, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Tatiana DomitrovicVirology Department, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Goes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Emma L HeskethAstbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4522-0061
Charlotte A ScarffAstbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6168-0060
John E JohnsonDepartment of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9782-3721
Neil A RansonAstbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3640-5275
David M LawsonDepartment of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Colney, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7637-4303
George P LomonossoffDepartment of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Colney, UK. george.lomonossoff@jic.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-0700-906X
John Innes Centre · GBUniversity of Leeds · GBUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro · BRScripps Research Institute · US

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/L014130/1Wellcome Trust 108466Wellcome Trust 108466/Z/15/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many virus capsids undergo exquisitely choreographed maturation processes in their host cells to produce infectious virions, and these remain poorly understood. As a tool for studying virus maturation, we transiently expressed the capsid protein of the insect virus Nudaurelia capensis omega virus (NωV) in Nicotiana benthamiana and were able to purify both immature procapsids and mature capsids from infiltrated leaves by varying the expression time. Cryo-EM analysis of the plant-produced procapsids and mature capsids to 6.6 Å and 2.7 Å resolution, respectively, reveals that in addition to large scale rigid body motions, internal regions of the subunits are extensively remodelled during maturation, creating the active site required for autocatalytic cleavage and infectivity. The mature particles are biologically active in terms of their ability to lyse membranes and have a structure that is essentially identical to authentic virus. The ability to faithfully recapitulate and visualize a complex maturation process in plants, including the autocatalytic cleavage of the capsid protein, has revealed a ~30 Å translation-rotation of the subunits during maturation as well as conformational rearrangements in the N and C-terminal helical regions of each subunit.

Indexed as

Virus AssemblyCapsid ProteinsCryoelectron MicroscopyEukaryotaHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationModels, MolecularNicotianaPlant LeavesProtein Structure, QuaternaryRNA VirusesVirionCapsid Proteins

Identifiers

PMID34031522
PMCPMC8144610
OpenAlexW3165515642

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.