Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Structure and Formation
of the Cytomegalovirus Virion
W. Gibson
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Formation of the Nucleocapsid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Tegumentation and Envelopment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Concluding Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Abstract
Transport and protection of the nuclear-replicating double-stranded
DNA genome of herpesviruses is accomplished by the virion and its substruc-
tures. Studies of the composition, organization, and formation of these parti-
cles have provided insight into the molecular mechanisms of virus assembly,
leads for antiviral strategies, and information about cellular processes that are
required for, resemble, or antagonize virus replication. This chapter updates
earlier reviews on the structure and formation human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)
virions (Gibson 1996, 2006; Eickmann et al. 2006), and complements several
other reviews on herpesvirus structure and replication presented in this volume
(see the chapters by E. Murphy and T. Shenk, Z. Ruzsics and U. Koszinowski,
R. Kalejta, and G.S. Pari) and elsewhere (Rixon 1993; Steven and Spear 1997;
Brown et al. 2002; Varnum et al. 2004; Liu and Zhou 2007).
Introduction
For purposes of brief introduction, the general characteristics of the CMV virion can
be summarized as follows. Typical of the herpesvirus group, the virion of HCMV is
approximately 230 nm in diameter and is composed of a nucleocapsid, surrounded by
W. Gibson
Department of Pharmacology Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine, Baltimore , MD 21205 , USA
wgibson@jhmi.edu
