Virus Structure Tutorial Shuchismita Dutta, Ph.D. RCSB PDB, 2008 Introduction • Viruses can cause a variety of diseases from common cold and the flu to serious illnesses such as AIDS, dengue fever, measles, small pox and bird flu. • All viruses infect cells and hijack the host cellular machinery for their own benefit. • Learning about the biology and structure of viruses can help us better understand the diseases that they cause, their prevention and treatment. Goal • Introduction to viruses – what they are made of, how do they survive and propagate. • Virus structures – shape and symmetric interaction of proteins, nucleic acids. • Hands-on activities • List of related resources and additional reading material. • Take home message: The shape and structure of proteins are specific for their function. Overview • Information – Protein Data Bank – Viruses • Building virus models – Paper models – Marshmallow models • Dengue virus – Virus maturation • Possible directions for lesson plans Basic Information 1 2 3 What is a virus? • Organism that causes diseases – Common cold – Flu – AIDS – Bird flu – Polio Electron micrographs of viruses. HIV Aeromonas virus 31 Influenza virus Orf virusHerpes simplex virusSmallopx virus What do Viruses look like? Tailed phages Are viruses living or non-living? (A typical virus life-cycle) http://www.microbiologybytes.com/introduction/structure.html http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Viral-Structure-and-Replication.topicArticleId-8524,articleId-8448.html [...]... viruses and the icosahedral virus models • Research on a specific disease caused by a virus (e.g Dengue Fever) Vaccines and Antivirals •Infection, Prevention & Treatment •Rhinovirus or Flu virus or HIV etc Protein Structure Transcription/Translation •Structure of proteins in virus shells •Use of symmetry in assembling viruses •How viruses hijack host cells •Viruses and cancer Viruses Math & Geometry Genetics... Dengue Virus Science 28 March 2008:Vol 319 no 5871, pp 1834 - 1837 Maturation & Fusion Molecule of the Month, July, 2008 Nature Reviews Microbiology 3, 13-22 (January 2005) Possible Directions for Lesson Plans A Lesson on Icosahedral Viruses • • • • • Shapes of proteins (Introduction to PDB) What is a virus? Shapes of viruses Building 3-D models of icosahedral viruses Answering questions about viruses... Engineering Expo The Story of Dengue Virus Dengue Virus • • • • Single-stranded RNA virus Causes dengue hemorrhagic fever Transmitted by mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) Serotypes (DEN-1, 2, 3, 4) Dengue Virus Nature Structural Biology 10, 907 - 912 (2003) Where? World distribution of dengue viruses and their mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, (2005) Life Cycle of Dengue Virus Structural changes in envelope...Viral Infection and Immunity Poliovirus and Rhinovirus August 2001 Molecule of the Month Building Icosahedral Viruses What is an Icosahedron? Icosahedron: a geometric solid with twenty faces Each face is an equilateral triangle and every vertex of the icosahedron is formed... symmetry in assembling viruses •How viruses hijack host cells •Viruses and cancer Viruses Math & Geometry Genetics & Mutation •Icosahedrons, •helices etc •Evolution in viruses •Why antiviral treatments need to evolve too Biotechnological uses of Viruses •Protein expressing, •gene therapy Acknowledgements Operated by two members of the RCSB: The RCSB PDB is a member of the Supported by: NIGMS . 31 Influenza virus Orf virusHerpes simplex virusSmallopx virus What do Viruses look like? Tailed phages Are viruses living or non-living? (A typical virus. Overview • Information – Protein Data Bank – Viruses • Building virus models – Paper models – Marshmallow models • Dengue virus – Virus maturation • Possible directions