Near-atomic resolution model of Ebola virus protein brings clearer understanding of the viral mechanics

Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have for the first time imaged the structure of a central component of the Ebola virus at near-atomic resolution. The study, published in the journal Nature, was led by Prof. Matthias Wolf and primary author Dr. Yukihiko Sugita of OIST’s Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit (MCEMU) in a collaboration with world-renowned virologist Prof. Yoshihiro Kawaoka (University of Tokyo and University of Wisconsin-Madison), Prof. Takeshi Noda (Kyoto University) and structural biologist Dr. Hideyuki Matsunami (OIST). The researchers focused on a part of the virus called the nucleocapsid (NC), a complex of proteins that acts as a support structure for the viral genetic material. This structure allows the virus to replicate its deadly payload, to devastating effect. Dr. Sugita isolated nucleoprotein-RNA complexes, which make up the core of NCs, to a high degree of purity, then analyzed them with a cryo-electron microscope (cryo-EM)...