Analysis of Ebola virus nucleocapsid formation

埃博拉病毒VP35是病毒RNA聚合酶复合体的辅助因子，与NP和VP24一起是形成核衣壳的重要组成部分。在本研究中，我们研究了VP35与NP之间的相互作用，发现VP35通过NP的C末端与螺旋NP-RNA复合物相互作用。我们还发现，过量的VP35与NP的共表达降低了Cscl梯度超速离心法纯化的NP-RNA复合体的产量，并抑制了NP诱导的包涵体的形成，这些包涵体通常在埃博拉病毒感染的细胞中形成。这些发现表明，NP与VP35的比例在埃博拉病毒复制周期中是重要的，并促进了我们对核衣壳形态发生的了解。

Ebola virus VP35 is a cofactor of the viral RNA polymerase complex and, together with NP and VP24, is an essential component for nucleocapsid formation. In the present study, we examined the interactions between VP35 and NP and found that VP35 interacts with helical NP-RNA complexes through the C-terminus of NP. We also found that coexpression of excess VP35 with NP reduced the yields of NP-RNA complexes purified by CsCl gradient ultracentrifugation and inhibited the formation of the NP-induced inclusion bodies that typically form in Ebola virus-infected cells. These findings suggest that the NP to VP35 ratio is important in the Ebola virus replication cycleand advance our knowledge of nucleocapsid morphogenesis.