Rhabdovirus Matrix Protein Structures Reveal a Novel Mode of Self-Association

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The matrix (M) proteins of rhabdoviruses are multifunctional proteins essential for virus maturation and budding that also regulate the expression of viral and host proteins. We have solved the structures of M from the vesicular stomatitis virus serotype New Jersey (genus: Vesiculovirus) and from Lagos bat virus (genus: Lyssavirus), revealing that both share a common fold despite sharing no identifiable sequence homology. Strikingly, in both structures a stretch of residues from the otherwise-disordered N terminus of a crystallographically adjacent molecule is observed binding to a hydrophobic cavity on the surface of the protein, thereby forming non-covalent linear polymers of M in the crystals. While the overall topology of the interaction is conserved between the two structures, the molecular details of the interactions are completely different. The observed interactions provide a compelling model for the flexible self-assembly of the matrix protein during virion morphogenesis and may also modulate interactions with host proteins. Rhabdoviruses are of considerable socioeconomic importance. For example, rabies virus causes lethal encephalitis resulting in approximately 50,000 human deaths per year. Rhabdoviruses infect cells and propagate despite having small genomes that encode only five multifunctional proteins. One of these, the matrix protein, plays a structural role in virus assembly in addition to modulating the production of host and virus proteins, promoting viral egress from the host cell and modulating cell death. We have solved the 3-dimensional crystal structures of matrix proteins from two distantly related rhabdoviruses: Lagos bat virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. The two proteins have very similar structures despite having dissimilar amino acid sequences. Surprisingly, for both we observe self-association between a pocket on the main globular domain and one extremity of an adjacent molecule in the crystal. Repetition of this interaction gives rise to non-covalent polymers of matrix proteins, adjacent proteins being tethered by a flexible linker. This provides a compelling molecular mechanism for the self-association of matrix molecules required for virus assembly. While the general mode of polymerization is conserved between the two structures, the precise molecular details of the interactions differ, consistent with these matrix proteins binding different cellular factors during infection.

This publication has 102 references indexed in Scilit: