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Architects of assembly: roles of Flaviviridae non-structural proteins in virion morphogenesis

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 6, pages 699–708 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Viruses of the Flaviviridae family, including hepatitis C, dengue and bovine viral diarrhoea, are responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recent advances in our understanding of virion assembly have uncovered commonalities among distantly related members of this family. We discuss the emerging hypothesis that physical virion components are not alone in forming the infectious particle, but that non-structural proteins are intimately involved in orchestrating morphogenesis. Pinpointing the roles of Flaviviridae proteins in virion production could reveal new avenues for antiviral therapeutics.

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Figure 1: Life cycle of the Flaviviridae.
Figure 2: Processing and putative topologies of the Flaviviridae polyproteins.
Figure 3: Proposed pathways of Flaviviridae assembly and egress.
Figure 4: Required features of the p7-NS2-3-4A or NS2A-2B-3 polyprotein regions.
Figure 5: Required features of the NS5A-5B or NS5 regions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Tellinghuisen, R. Kuhn, C. Patkar, S. Lemon and M. Yi for sharing pre-publication results. We also acknowledge T. Tellinghuisen for critical reading of the manuscript. Work on infectious virus assembly in the laboratory of C.M.R. is supported by Public Health Service grants (CA057973, AI072613 and AI075099), the Starr Foundation and the Greenberg Medical Research Institute.

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  1. Catherine L. Murray, Christopher T. Jones and Charles M. Rice are at The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, BOX 64, New York, New York 10065, USA.,

    Catherine L. Murray, Christopher T. Jones & Charles M. Rice

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  1. Catherine L. Murray
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Glossary

Fulminant hepatitis

Fulminant hepatic failure refers to the rapid development of severe acute liver injury, with impaired synthetic function and encephalopathy, in a person who previously had a normal liver or well-compensated liver disease.

Fusogenic

Promotes fusion of the viral envelope with the cellular plasma membrane.

Viroporin

A small (around 100 amino acid), hydrophobic viral protein that oligomerizes to form pores in vitro and promotes virus infectivity in vivo.

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Murray, C., Jones, C. & Rice, C. Architects of assembly: roles of Flaviviridae non-structural proteins in virion morphogenesis. Nat Rev Microbiol 6, 699–708 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1928

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