Volume 30, No 10, Oct 2020

ISSN: 1001-0602 
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018 
impact factor 17.848* 
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)

Volume 30 Issue 10, October 2020: 873-884   |  Open Access

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

CryoEM structure of the tegumented capsid of Epstein-Barr virus

Zhihai Li^1,† , Xiao Zhang^2,† , Lili Dong¹ , Jingjing Pang^1,3 , Miao Xu² , Qian Zhong² , Mu-Sheng Zeng^2,* , Xuekui Yu^1,3,*

¹Cryo-Electron Microscopy Research Center, The CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
²State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510060, China
³University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
^†These authors contributed equally
Correspondence: Mu-Sheng Zeng(zengmsh@sysucc.org.cn)Xuekui Yu(xkyu@simm.ac.cn)

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the primary cause of infectious mononucleosis and has been shown to be closely associated with various malignancies. Here, we present a complete atomic model of EBV, including the icosahedral capsid, the dodecameric portal and the capsid-associated tegument complex (CATC). Our in situ portal from the tegumented capsid adopts a closed conformation with its channel valve holding the terminal viral DNA and with its crown region firmly engaged by three layers of ring-like dsDNA, which, together with the penton flexibility, effectively alleviates the capsid inner pressure placed on the portal cap. In contrast, the CATCs, through binding to the flexible penton vertices in a stoichiometric manner, accurately increase the inner capsid pressure to facilitate the pressure-driven genome delivery. Together, our results provide important insights into the mechanism by which the EBV capsid, portal, packaged genome and the CATCs coordinately achieve a pressure balance to simultaneously benefit both viral genome retention and ejection.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-020-0363-0

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