c Adenovirus (Ad) cell attachment is initiated by the attachment of the fiber protein to a primary receptor (usually CAR or CD46). This event is followed by the engagement of the penton base protein with a secondary receptor (integrin) via its loop region, which contains an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif, to trigger virus internalization. To understand the well-orchestrated adenovirus cell attachment process that involves the fiber and the penton base, we reconstructed the structure of an Ad5F35 capsid, comprising an adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) capsid pseudotyped with an Ad35 fiber, at a resolution of approximately 4.2 Å. The fiber-penton base interaction in the cryo-electron microscopic (cryo-EM) structure of Ad5F35 is similar to that in the cryo-EM structure of Ad5, indicating that the fiber-penton base interaction of adenovirus is conserved. Our structure also confirms that the C-terminal segment of the fiber tail domain constitutes the bottom trunk of the fiber shaft. Based on the conserved fiber-penton base interaction, we have proposed a model for the interaction of Ad5F35 with its primary and secondary receptors. This model could provide insight for designing adenovirus gene delivery vectors.
Human adenoviruses (Ads) are nonenveloped, double-stranded DNA viruses and are responsible for respiratory, gastrointestinal, and ocular infections. In addition, Ads have demonstrated great potential as vaccine vectors (7,13,22). Ad has a large, complex, icosahedral capsid with a diameter of ϳ920 Å, not including the elongated homotrimeric fibers at each of its 5-fold vertices. The Ad capsid is composed of three major proteins: 240 hexon trimers that form the 20 facets of the icosahedral capsid, 12 penton bases, and 12 fiber trimers at the 12 icosahedral vertices (8, 36). A structure of Ad5F35, comprising an adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) capsid pseudotyped with an Ad35 fiber (25, 35), has been determined at 6-Å resolution (33). Combined with secondary structure prediction for minor proteins, the 6-Å structure has enabled the precise locations of minor proteins IIIa, VI, VIII, and IX to be determined (33). The locations of these minor proteins have been further confirmed by two nearly atomic resolution Ad structural analyses: the Ad5 structure analyzed by cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) and the Ad5F35 structure determined using X-ray crystallography (17, 30). The minor capsid proteins, including IIIa, VIII, and IX, are thought to form proteinprotein networks to enhance the stability of the Ad capsid (17).The Ad fiber, which is formed by three copies of fiber proteins, plays a role in the initial attachment of the Ad capsid to the host cell surface through its interaction with the cellular receptor. Although Ad fibers are of various lengths depending on the serotype, the fiber proteins of all serotypes share an overall architecture: an N-terminal tail domain that interacts with the pentameric penton base, a C-terminal globular knob domain that functions as the attachment site for the host cell receptors, and a central shaft domain th...