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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children. The HMPV polymerase (L) binds an obligate cofactor, the phosphoprotein (P). During replication and transcription, the L/P complex traverses the viral RNA genome, which is encapsidated within nucleoproteins (N). An essential interaction between N and a C-terminal region of P tethers the L/P polymerase to the template. This N-P interaction is also involved in the formation of cytoplasmic viral factories in infected cells, called inclusion bodies. To define how the polymerase component P recognizes N-encapsidated RNA (N-RNA) we employed cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and molecular dynamics simulations, coupled to activity assays and imaging of inclusion bodies in cells. We report a 2.9 A resolution structure of a triple-complex between multimeric N, bound to both RNA and the C-terminal region of P. Furthermore, we also present cryo-EM structures of assembled N in different oligomeric states, highlighting the plasticity of N. Combined with our functional assays, these structural data delineate in molecular detail how P attaches to N-RNA whilst retaining substantial conformational dynamics. Moreover, the N-RNA-P triple complex structure provides a molecular blueprint for the design of therapeutics to potentially disrupt the attachment of L/P to its template.

Structure of the N-RNA/P interface indicates mode of L/P recruitment to the nucleocapsid of human metapneumovirus.,Whitehead JD, Decool H, Leyrat C, Carrique L, Fix J, Eleouet JF, Galloux M, Renner M Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 22;14(1):7627. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43434-5. PMID:37993464^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.