Title Molecular basis for the acid-initiated uncoating of human enterovirus D68.
Author Liu, Yue; Sheng, Ju; van Vliet, Arno L W; Buda, Geeta; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M; Rossmann, Michael G
Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Publication Year/Month 2018-Dec
PMID 30530701 PMCID PMC6310856
Affiliation + expend 1.Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907.

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) belongs to a group of enteroviruses that contain a single positive-sense RNA genome surrounded by an icosahedral capsid. Like common cold viruses, EV-D68 mainly causes respiratory infections and is acid-labile. The molecular mechanism by which the acid-sensitive EV-D68 virions uncoat and deliver their genome into a host cell is unknown. Using cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM), we have determined the structures of the full native virion and an uncoating intermediate [the A (altered) particle] of EV-D68 at 2.2- and 2.7-A resolution, respectively. These structures showed that acid treatment of EV-D68 leads to particle expansion, externalization of the viral protein VP1 N termini from the capsid interior, and formation of pores around the icosahedral twofold axes through which the viral RNA can exit. Moreover, because of the low stability of EV-D68, cryo-EM analyses of a mixed population of particles at neutral pH and following acid treatment demonstrated the involvement of multiple structural intermediates during virus uncoating. Among these, a previously undescribed state, the expanded 1 ("E1") particle, shows a majority of internal regions (e.g., the VP1 N termini) to be ordered as in the full native virion. Thus, the E1 particle acts as an intermediate in the transition from full native virions to A particles. Together, the present work delineates the pathway of EV-D68 uncoating and provides the molecular basis for the acid lability of EV-D68 and of the related common cold viruses.

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