Phys.org  October 3, 2022 Researchers at UC Riverside developed a model to explore the mechanisms of RNA condensation by structural proteins, protein oligomerization and cellular membrane–protein interactions that control the budding process and the ultimate virus structure. Using molecular dynamics simulations, they deciphered how the positively charged N proteins interact and condense the very long genomic RNA resulting in its packaging by a lipid envelope decorated with structural proteins inside a host cell. Considering the length of RNA and the size of the virus they found that the intrinsic curvature of M proteins is essential for virus budding. While most […]