Title:
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Viral self-assembly as a thermodynamic process
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Author:
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Bruinsma, Robijn F.; Gelbart, William M.; Reguera, D. (David); Rudnick, Joseph; Zandi, Roya
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Other authors:
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Universitat de Barcelona |
Abstract:
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The protein shells, or capsids, of nearly all spherelike viruses adopt icosahedral symmetry. In the present Letter, we propose a statistical thermodynamic model for viral self-assembly. We find that icosahedral symmetry is not expected for viral capsids constructed from structurally identical protein subunits and that this symmetry requires (at least) two internal switching configurations of the protein. Our results indicate that icosahedral symmetry is not a generic consequence of free energy minimization but requires optimization of internal structural parameters of the capsid proteins |
Subject(s):
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-Biofísica -Ciència dels materials -Termodinàmica estadística -Biological and medical physics -Materials science -Statistical thermodynamics |
Rights:
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(c) American Physical Society, 2003
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Document type:
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Article Article - Published version |
Published by:
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American Physical Society
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