Fig. 1: Structural components for assembly of bacteriophage T4-AVVs.
From: Design of bacteriophage T4-based artificial viral vectors for human genome remodeling
a Structural model of phage T4 head (capsid)44. Pentameric gp24 vertices are shown in red. b Enlarged capsomer shows the hexameric arrangement of major capsid protein gp23 (dark green), Soc trimers (light green), and Hoc fiber (cyan)44. c Enlarged DNA packaging machine structural model comprised of gp20 portal dodecamer (PDB 3JA7) (brown) and pentameric gp17 DNA packaging motor (PDB 3CPE) (yellow)24,44. d Eight hundred and seventy Soc molecules assembled at the quasi-three-fold axes form a molecular cage around T4 capsid21 (PDB 5VF3). e One hundred and fifty-five Hoc fibers emanate from the centers of capsomers34 (PDB 3SHS). f, g Molecular surfaces of wild-type (WT) T4 capsid22 (3.4 Å, PDB 7VS5) (f) and super-acidic 9DE-T4 capsid (3.9 Å) (g) are colored according to electrostatic potential. The color ranges from red, corresponding to a potential of −5 kT/e−, to blue, corresponding to a potential of +5 kT/e−. The WT-T4 capsid has 6,829 net negative charges and the 9DE-T4 capsid has 15,199 net negative charges. h Schematic of head packaged with foreign proteins and DNAs in its interior space.
