Osmotic Shock and the Strength of Viral Capsids

Osmotic shock is a familiar means for rupturing viral capsids and exposing their genomes intact. The necessary conditions for providing this shock involve incubation in high-concentration salt solutions, and lower permeability of the capsids to salt ions than to water molecules. We discuss here how...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biophysical journal 2003-07, Vol.85 (1), p.70-74
Main Authors: Cordova, Amado, Deserno, Markus, Gelbart, William M., Ben-Shaul, Avinoam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biophysical Theory and Modeling
Capsid - chemistry
Cellular biology
Computer Simulation
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Elasticity
Electrolytes - chemistry
Ions
Models, Chemical
Models, Molecular
Molecular Conformation
Osmosis
Osmotic Pressure
Permeability
Porosity
Pressure
Proteins
Salts - chemistry
Solutions - chemistry
Stress, Mechanical
Viruses - chemistry
Water - chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Osmotic shock is a familiar means for rupturing viral capsids and exposing their genomes intact. The necessary conditions for providing this shock involve incubation in high-concentration salt solutions, and lower permeability of the capsids to salt ions than to water molecules. We discuss here how values of the capsid strength can be inferred from calculations of the osmotic pressure differences associated with measured values of the critical concentration of incubation solution.
ISSN:0006-3495
1542-0086
DOI:10.1016/S0006-3495(03)74455-5