VIRAL PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FORMATION OF CORONAVIRUS REPLICATION ORGANELLES

We establish new minimum protein requirements for the formation of double-membrane vesicles (DMVs), a prototypic type of virus-induced membrane structure that also plays a role in the replication of other viral pathogens. We demonstrate a direct link between membrane remodelling and viral polyprotein processing and reveal the likely DMV biogenesis mechanism.

This work was done in close collaboration between the departments of Molecular Virology and Cell and Chemical Biology at the LUMC.

Oudshoorn, D., Rijs, K., Limpens, R., Groen, K., Koster, A.J., Snijder, E.J., Kikkert, M. and Barcena, M., "Expression and Cleavage of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Nsp3-4 Polyprotein Induce the Formation of Double-Membrane Vesicles That Mimic Those Associated with Coronaviral Rna Replication" (2017) MBio, 8, 6.