Structural Organization of Pregenomic RNA and the Carboxy-Terminal Domain of the Capsid Protein of Hepatitis B Virus
Figure 6
Structural organization of pgRNA.
The difference maps of the pgRNA from (A) Cp183RNA-SSS (blue) and (B) Cp183RNA-EEE (gold) superimposed on cutaway of their respective empty capsids. By subtracting the empty Cp183 capsids from their respective pgRNA-filled capsids, the CTD-RNA interaction is evident as a gap, particularly evident on the fivefold of the EEE mutant (B). The pgRNA density in the unphosphorylated Cp183RNA-SSS forms an icosahedral cage, similar to the organization of rcDNA observed in the native virion. The pgRNA in the phosphorylation-mimic Cp183-EEE capsid shows a continuous mesh-like network density that appears to be composed of short segments of density.