SELF-ASSEMBLY OF NUCLEOCAPSID PROTEIN WITH VIRAL RNA ON MEMBRANE SURFACES

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  • April 12, 2022
Creator
  • Zhongxiu Hu
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
  • The SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. One of its structural proteins, the Nucleocapsid Protein (N Protein) that is essential for packaging the virus's RNA and facilitating the virus's replication cycle, was shown to undergo Liquid-liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) in combination with subgenomic fragments of the viral RNA genome to form assemblies called biomolecular condensates. However, the mechanisms by which this condensation process is controlled in time and space in order to regulate viral assembly remains unclear. Our previous work found that N Protein assemblies associate with endomembrane surfaces in live cells, prompting us to hypothesize that attachment to phospholipid bilayer membranes may regulate assembly of N Protein with viral genomic RNA fragments. This study furthers the investigation of N Protein LLPS by including lipid bilayer to the reconstitution system. LLPS of N Protein with various structural mutants of the 1-1000 nucleotides viral RNA tethered on lipid bilayer was explored. It was found that N Protein recruitment to membrane surfaces via membrane-tethered viral RNA fragments largely decreases the concentration of N Protein and viral RNA required for phase separation. We hypothesize that membrane surface attachment of viral RNA fragments may alter the structure of RNA, thereby tuning the degree to which N Protein can access and assemble on specific structured regions within the RNA molecule. More broadly, this work suggests that attachment to membrane surfaces may play an important role in controlling assembly of protein-RNA condensates in diverse biological contexts.
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Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Amy Gladfelter
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology
  • Wilton Snead
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology
  • Christine Roden
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology
Degree
  • Bachelor of Science
Graduation year
  • 2022
Language
  • English

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