Crystal Structure of the Pre-fusion Nipah Virus Fusion Glycoprotein Reveals a Novel Hexamer-of-Trimers Assembly.
Xu, K., Chan, Y.P., Bradel-Tretheway, B., Akyol-Ataman, Z., Zhu, Y., Dutta, S., Yan, L., Feng, Y., Wang, L.F., Skiniotis, G., Lee, B., Zhou, Z.H., Broder, C.C., Aguilar, H.C., Nikolov, D.B.(2015) PLoS Pathog 11: e1005322-e1005322
- PubMed: 26646856
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005322
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
5EVM - PubMed Abstract:
Nipah virus (NiV) is a paramyxovirus that infects host cells through the coordinated efforts of two envelope glycoproteins. The G glycoprotein attaches to cell receptors, triggering the fusion (F) glycoprotein to execute membrane fusion. Here we report the first crystal structure of the pre-fusion form of the NiV-F glycoprotein ectodomain. Interestingly this structure also revealed a hexamer-of-trimers encircling a central axis. Electron tomography of Nipah virus-like particles supported the hexameric pre-fusion model, and biochemical analyses supported the hexamer-of-trimers F assembly in solution. Importantly, structure-assisted site-directed mutagenesis of the interfaces between F trimers highlighted the functional relevance of the hexameric assembly. Shown here, in both cell-cell fusion and virus-cell fusion systems, our results suggested that this hexamer-of-trimers assembly was important during fusion pore formation. We propose that this assembly would stabilize the pre-fusion F conformation prior to cell attachment and facilitate the coordinated transition to a post-fusion conformation of all six F trimers upon triggering of a single trimer. Together, our data reveal a novel and functional pre-fusion architecture of a paramyxoviral fusion glycoprotein.
Organizational Affiliation:
Structural Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, United States of America.