A rendering of an icosahedral viral capsid comprising 72 pentamers of murine polyomavirus VP1, colored such that areas of the surface closer to the interior center appear blue and areas further away appear red. Rendered from PDB: 1SIE.
Major capsid protein VP1 is a viral protein that is the main component of the polyomaviruscapsid. VP1 monomers are generally around 350 amino acids long and are capable of self-assembly into an icosahedral structure consisting of 360 VP1 molecules organized into 72 pentamers. VP1 molecules possess a surface binding site that interacts with sialic acids attached to glycans, including some gangliosides, on the surfaces of cells to initiate the process of viral infection. The VP1 protein, along with capsid components VP2 and VP3, is expressed from the "late region" of the circular viral genome.[1][2][3]
^Ramqvist T, Dalianis T (August 2009). "Murine polyomavirus tumour specific transplantation antigens and viral persistence in relation to the immune response, and tumour development". Seminars in Cancer Biology. 19 (4): 236–43. doi:10.1016/j.semcancer.2009.02.001. PMID19505651.
^Ramqvist T, Dalianis T (February 2010). "Lessons from immune responses and vaccines against murine polyomavirus infection and polyomavirus-induced tumours potentially useful for studies on human polyomaviruses". Anticancer Research. 30 (2): 279–84. PMID20332429.