Mechanical Stability and Reversible Fracture of Vault Particles

Llauró, Aida; Guerra, Pablo; Irigoyen, Nerea; Rodrı́guez, José F.; Verdaguer, N.; Pablo, Pedro

doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2013.12.035

Cited by 36 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Some protein cages are able to recover completely after a breakage in times shorter than the time required for taking an image (37), but that is not the scenario seen here. FIC 2 shows a decrease in the elastic limit (~2 nN) and rigidity that indicates some damage to the structure.…”

Section: Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Calcium Ions Modulate the Mechanics of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus

Llauró

Coppari

Imperatori

et al. 2015

Biophysical Journal

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Viral particles are endowed with physicochemical properties whose modulation confers certain metastability to their structures to fulfill each task of the viral cycle. Here, we investigate the effects of swelling and ion depletion on the mechanical stability of individual tomato bushy stunt virus nanoparticles (TBSV-NPs). Our experiments show that calcium ions modulate the mechanics of the capsid: the sequestration of calcium ions from the intracapsid binding sites reduces rigidity and resilience in ∼24% and 40%, respectively. Interestingly, mechanical deformations performed on native TBSV-NPs induce an analogous result. In addition, TBSV-NPs do not show capsomeric vacancies after surpassing the elastic limit. We hypothesize that even though there are breakages among neighboring capsomers, RNA-capsid protein interaction prevents the release of capsid subunits. This work shows the mechanical role of calcium ions in viral shell stability and identifies TBSV-NPs as malleable platforms based on protein cages for cargo transportation at the nanoscale.

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Section: Mechanicsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Calcium Ions Modulate the Mechanics of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus

Llauró

Coppari

Imperatori

et al. 2015

Biophysical Journal

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“…It is tempting to assign the force at which the crack is created (yield force) to the elastic limit of the indentation curve (that is, the force value at the first sharp decay after linear indentation). However, the sharp decays of the force can be related to reversible deformations, buckling, slip and rotation of the particle 25,26 . Thus, particles were routinely imaged after the indentation experiment and only those showing evident cracking are considered for statistics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cementing proteins provide extra mechanical stabilization to viral cages

et al. 2014

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The study of virus shell stability is key not only for gaining insights into viral biological cycles but also for using viral capsids in materials science. The strength of viral particles depends profoundly on their structural changes occurring during maturation, whose final step often requires the specific binding of 'decoration' proteins (such as gpD in bacteriophage lambda) to the viral shell. Here we characterize the mechanical stability of gpD-free and gpD-decorated bacteriophage lambda capsids. The incorporation of gpD into the lambda shell imparts a major mechanical reinforcement that resists punctual deformations. We further interrogate lambda particle stability with molecular fatigue experiments that resemble the sub-lethal Brownian collisions of virus shells with macromolecules in crowded environments. Decorated particles are especially robust against collisions of a few k B T (where k B is the Boltzmann's constant and T is the temperature B300 K), which approximate those anticipated from molecular insults in the environment.

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“…Force- vs. -indentation curves (FIC) were obtained from force- vs. - Z -piezo curves as reported. 45 The elastic constant was obtained by fitting the initial linear part of each FIC. Breaking force and critical indentation were measured with WsxM_ENREF_65.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cargo–shell and cargo–cargo couplings govern the mechanics of artificially loaded virus-derived cages

et al. 2016

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Nucleic acids are the natural cargo of viruses and key determinants that affect viral shell stability. In some cases the genome structurally reinforces the shell, whereas in others genome packaging causes internal pressure that can induce destabilization. Although it is possible to pack heterologous cargoes inside virus-derived shells, little is known about the physical determinants of these artificial nanocontainers’ stability. Atomic force and three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopy provided mechanical and structural information about the physical mechanisms of viral cage stabilization beyond the mere presence/absence of cargos. We analyzed the effects of cargo–shell and cargo–cargo interactions on shell stability after encapsulating two types of proteinaceous payloads. While bound cargo to the inner capsid surface mechanically reinforced the capsid in a structural manner, unbound cargo diffusing freely within the shell cavity pressurized the cages up to ~30 atm due to steric effects. Strong cargo–cargo coupling reduces the resilience of these nanocompartments in ~20% when bound to the shell. Understanding the stability of artificially loaded nanocages will help to design more robust and durable molecular nanocontainers.

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Mechanical Stability and Reversible Fracture of Vault Particles

Cited by 36 publications

References 44 publications

Calcium Ions Modulate the Mechanics of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus

Calcium Ions Modulate the Mechanics of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus

Cementing proteins provide extra mechanical stabilization to viral cages

Cargo–shell and cargo–cargo couplings govern the mechanics of artificially loaded virus-derived cages

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