Virologie
MENUStructural disorder within the replicative complex of measles virus: functional implications Volume 9, issue 5, septembre-octobre
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- Key words: measles virus, Paramyxoviridae, negative strand RNA viruses, replication, replicative complex, P and N structure, intrinsic or structural disorder, induced folding
- Page(s) : 367-83
- Published in: 2005
Measles virus belongs to the Paramyxoviridae family within the Mononegavirales order. Its non segmented, single stranded, negative sense RNA genome is encapsidated by the nucleoprotein (N) to form a helical nucleocapsid. This ribonucleoproteic complex is the substrate for both transcription and replication. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L) binds to the nucleocapsid template via its co-factor, the phosphoprotein (P). In this review, we summarize the main experimental data pointing out the abundance of structural disorder within measles virus N and P. We also describe studies indicating that structural disorder is a widespread property in the replicative complex of Paramyxoviridae and, more generally, of Mononegavirales. The functional implications of structural disorder are also discussed. Finally, we propose a model where the flexibility of the disordered N and P domains allows the formation of a tripartite complex (N°-P-L) during replication, followed by the delivery of N monomers to the nascent genomic RNA chain.