Virus Coat Proteins as Protein Crystallization Lattices

This project will develop the use of viral coat proteins as crystallization lattices for protein structural determinations. Phase I will involve the development of a genetically engineered, self-assembling system directed at crystallizing small globular proteins fused inside a viral capsid shell. Self-assembly of the viral coat protein subunits will produce a spherical viral shell with the cloned fusion protein forming the internal core of the capsid. Phase II will explore the use of natural viral coat proteins as crystallization lattices for membrane proteins. The novel method of crystallizing proteins as encapsulated molecules could significantly decrease the time and effort necessary to obtain 3-D structures of proteins. Once the feasibility of the viral fusion proteins and "doughnut" virus encapsulation approaches has been demonstrated, these technologies will be made commercially available to other researchers.