The ongoing conflict between viruses and their hosts can drive the co-evolution between host immune genes and viral suppressors of immunity. It has been suggested that an evolutionary 'arms race' may occur between rapidly evolving components of the antiviral RNAi pathway of Drosophila and viral genes that antagonize it. We have recently shown that viral protein 1 (VP1) of Drosophila melanogaste...

We inserted the sequence of the carcinoembryonic antigen-derived T cell epitope CAP-1-6D (CEA) into different positions of the hamster polyomavirus major capsid protein VP1. Independently from additional flanking linkers, yeast-expressed VP1 proteins harboring the CEA insertion between VP1 amino acid residues 80 and 89 (site 1) or 288 and 295 (site 4) or simultaneously at both positions assembl...

The molecular mechanism by which some, but not all, variants of encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus selectively infect pancreatic beta-cells in mice and induce IDDM has been an enigma for more than a decade. We report here that the binding site of the EMC viral capsid protein VP1 determines viral diabetogenicity. Recombinant chimeric EMC viruses containing threonine, serine, proline, aspartic acid...

To explore further the phylogenetic relationships between human enteroviruses and to develop new diagnostic approaches, we designed a pair of generic primers in order to study a 1452 bp genomic fragment (relative to the poliovirus Mahoney genome), including the 3' end of the VP1-coding region, the 2A- and 2B-coding regions, and the 5' moiety of the 2C-coding region. Fifty-nine of the 64 prototy...

The VPl gene of enterovirus 71 (EV71) was synthesized, construct a recombinant plasmid pET15b/VP1 and expressed in E. coli BL21. The recombinant VP1 protein could specifically react with EV71-infected patient sera without the cross-reaction with serum antibodies of coxsackievirus A16 (CA16), A4, A5, B3 and B5 as well as echovirus 6. In acute and convalescent phases, IgM and IgG antibodies of 18...

The innermost VP2 core shell of the triple-layered, icosahedral rotavirus particle surrounds the viral genome and RNA processing enzymes, including the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (VP1). In addition to anchoring VP1 within the core, VP2 is also an essential cofactor that triggers the polymerase to initiate double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) synthesis using packaged plus-strand RNA templates. The VP2 ...

BACKGROUND Bluetongue virus (BTV) protein, VP1, is known to possess an intrinsic polymerase function, unlike rotavirus VP1, which requires the capsid protein VP2 for its catalytic activity. However, compared with the polymerases of other members of the Reoviridae family, BTV VP1 has not been characterized in detail. METHODS AND FINDINGS Using an in vitro polymerase assay system, we demonstrat...

Poliovirus is not only a significant human pathogen but also serves as a well-characterized model system for understanding how nonenveloped viruses infect cells. Upon binding to its receptor at the membrane of human macrophages, Poliovirus undergoes an irreversible conformational change that leads to penetration of the host cell membrane. Thereafter, it translocates its single stranded RNA geno...

Protein-DNA complexes were formed when nuclear extracts from embryogenic rice suspension cultures or maize embryos were incubated with an abscisic acid-VIVIPAROUS1 (VP1) response element (Em1a) from the Em promoter. Monoclonal antibodies generated to GF14, a 14-3-3 protein from plants, resulted in gel retardation of the Em1a-protein complexes. Antibodies generated to the C and N termini of GF14...

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified Ebola virus revealed the presence of four major virion structural proteins which we have designated VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) proteins were used as mol. wt. markers, and the virion proteins were found to have mol. wt. of 125000 (VP1), 104000 (VP2), 40000 (VP3) and 26000 (VP4). VP1 was labelled with glucosamine and is p...