* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

    Comanche Nation Entertainment closes casino near Devol – KSWO 7News

    Comanche Nation Entertainment Closes Casino Near Devol in Surprising Move

    Erykah Badu Announces ‘Abi & Alan’ Album With The Alchemist Will Be Delayed – yahoo.com

    Erykah Badu Opens Up About the Delay of Her Highly Anticipated ‘Abi & Alan’ Album with The Alchemist

    If You Needed Some BTS Pics Of The Rock’s Tree Trunk Legs To Spice Up Your Day, We Got ‘Em – yahoo.com

    Need a Boost? Check Out These Epic BTS Shots of The Rock’s Tree Trunk Legs!

    Sabrina Carpenter’s pearl-clutching magic? Humor – CNN

    Sabrina Carpenter’s pearl-clutching magic? Humor – CNN

    South Park Is In Trouble And Needs To Change Course, Fast – yahoo.com

    South Park Faces Major Challenges and Must Adapt Fast to Survive

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    China’s CATL sells stake in Finnish subcontract car manufacturer – Reuters

    China’s CATL Sells Stake in Finnish Auto Supplier in Strategic Move

    This Secret Technology Will Make The IPhone 17 Super Thin Air – VOI.ID

    How This Breakthrough Technology Will Make the iPhone 17 Incredibly Thin and Lightweight

    Gator football kicks off with excitement and new technology – WCJB | TV20

    Gator Football Kicks Off with Thrilling Action and Innovative Technology

    Marvell Technology (MRVL) Loses 18.6% as Growth Outlook Fails to Impress – Yahoo Finance

    Marvell Technology (MRVL) Loses 18.6% as Growth Outlook Fails to Impress – Yahoo Finance

    Propelling solar technology into a perovskite future – CORDIS

    Propelling solar technology into a perovskite future – CORDIS

    13 Top Technology Trends (2025) – Exploding Topics

    13 Game-Changing Technology Trends to Watch in 2025

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

    Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

    Comanche Nation Entertainment closes casino near Devol – KSWO 7News

    Comanche Nation Entertainment Closes Casino Near Devol in Surprising Move

    Erykah Badu Announces ‘Abi & Alan’ Album With The Alchemist Will Be Delayed – yahoo.com

    Erykah Badu Opens Up About the Delay of Her Highly Anticipated ‘Abi & Alan’ Album with The Alchemist

    If You Needed Some BTS Pics Of The Rock’s Tree Trunk Legs To Spice Up Your Day, We Got ‘Em – yahoo.com

    Need a Boost? Check Out These Epic BTS Shots of The Rock’s Tree Trunk Legs!

    Sabrina Carpenter’s pearl-clutching magic? Humor – CNN

    Sabrina Carpenter’s pearl-clutching magic? Humor – CNN

    South Park Is In Trouble And Needs To Change Course, Fast – yahoo.com

    South Park Faces Major Challenges and Must Adapt Fast to Survive

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    China’s CATL sells stake in Finnish subcontract car manufacturer – Reuters

    China’s CATL Sells Stake in Finnish Auto Supplier in Strategic Move

    This Secret Technology Will Make The IPhone 17 Super Thin Air – VOI.ID

    How This Breakthrough Technology Will Make the iPhone 17 Incredibly Thin and Lightweight

    Gator football kicks off with excitement and new technology – WCJB | TV20

    Gator Football Kicks Off with Thrilling Action and Innovative Technology

    Marvell Technology (MRVL) Loses 18.6% as Growth Outlook Fails to Impress – Yahoo Finance

    Marvell Technology (MRVL) Loses 18.6% as Growth Outlook Fails to Impress – Yahoo Finance

    Propelling solar technology into a perovskite future – CORDIS

    Propelling solar technology into a perovskite future – CORDIS

    13 Top Technology Trends (2025) – Exploding Topics

    13 Game-Changing Technology Trends to Watch in 2025

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Zika’s shape-shifting machinery, and a possible vulnerability

December 10, 2023
in Science
Zika’s shape-shifting machinery, and a possible vulnerability
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Viruses have limited genetic material — and few proteins — so all the pieces must work extra hard. Zika is a great example; the virus only produces 10 proteins. Now, in a study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys have shown how the virus does so much with so little and may have identified a therapeutic vulnerability.

In the study, the research team showed that Zika’s enzyme — NS2B-NS3 — is a multipurpose tool with two essential functions: breaking up proteins (a protease) and dividing its own double-stranded RNA into single strands (a helicase).

“We found that Zika’s enzyme complex changes function based on how it’s shaped,” says Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D., associate professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the paper. “When in the closed conformation, it acts as a classic protease. But then it cycles between open and super-open conformations, which allows it to grab and then release a single strand of RNA — and these functions are essential for viral replication.”

Zika is an RNA virus that’s part of a family of deadly pathogens called flaviviruses, which include West Nile, dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and others. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and infects uterine and placental cells (among other cell types), making it particularly dangerous for pregnant women. Once inside host cells, the virus re-engineers them to produce more Zika.

Understanding Zika on the molecular level could have an enormous payoff: a therapeutic target. It would be difficult to create safe drugs that target the domains of the enzyme needed for protease or helicase functions, as human cells have many similar molecules. However, a drug that blocks Zika’s conformational changes could be effective. If the complex can’t shape-shift, it can’t perform its critical functions, and no new Zika particles would be produced.

An efficient machine

Researchers have long known that Zika’s essential enzyme was composed of two units: NS2B-NS3pro and NS3hel. NS2B-NS3pro carries out protease functions, cutting long polypeptides into Zika proteins. However, NS2B-NS3pro’s abilities to bind single-stranded RNA and help separate the double-stranded RNA during viral replication were only recently discovered.

In this study, the researchers leaned on recent crystal structures and used protein biochemistry, fluorescence polarization and computer modeling to dissect NS2B-NS3pro’s life cycle. NS3pro is connected to NS3hel (the helicase) by a short amino acid linker and becomes active when the complex is in its closed conformation, like a closed accordion. The RNA binding happens when the complex is open, whereas the complex must transition through the super-open conformation to release RNA.

These conformational changes are driven by the dynamics of NS3hel activity, which extends the linker and eventually “yanks” the NS3pro to release RNA. NS3pro is anchored to the inside of the host cell’s endoplasmic reticulum (ER) — a key organelle that helps shepherd cellular proteins to their appropriate destinations — via NS2B and, while in the closed conformation, cuts up the Zika polypeptide, helping generate all viral proteins.

On the other side of the linker, NS3hel separates Zika’s double-stranded RNA and conveniently hands a strand over to NS3pro, which has positively charged “forks” to grab on to the negatively charged RNA.

“There’s a very nice groove of positive charges,” says Terskikh. “So, RNA just naturally follows that groove. Then the complex shifts to the closed conformation and releases the RNA.”

As NS3hel reaches forward to grab the double-stranded RNA, it pulls the complex with it; however, since the NS3pro is anchored in the ER membrane, and the linker can only extend so far, the complex snaps into the super-open conformation and releases RNA. The complex then relaxes back to the open conformation, ready for a new cycle.

Meanwhile, when NS3pro detects a viral polypeptide to cut, it forces the complex into the closed conformation, becoming a protease. The authors call this process “reverse inchworm,” because grabbing and releasing the single-stranded RNA resembles inchworm movements, but backward, with the jaws (the protease) trailing behind.

In addition to providing a possible therapeutic target for Zika, this detailed understanding could be applied to other flaviviruses, which share similar molecular machinery.

“Versions of the NS2B-NS3pro complex are found throughout the flaviviruses,” says Terskikh. “It could potentially constitute a whole new class of drug targets for multiple viruses.”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Science Daily – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231208190012.htm

Tags: scienceshape-shiftingZika's
Previous Post

Conjoined ‘racetracks’ make new optical device possible

Next Post

What happens when the brain loses a hub?

Construction of forest ecological security patterns based on MSPA model and circuit theory in the Desertification Control forests in South China Karst – Nature

Construction of forest ecological security patterns based on MSPA model and circuit theory in the Desertification Control forests in South China Karst – Nature

September 2, 2025
Bringing life science to life: Park Crossing teacher recognized – WSFA

Bringing life science to life: Park Crossing teacher recognized – WSFA

September 2, 2025
Take flight: EH seventh-graders learn science through paper airplanes – The Daily Reporter – Greenfield Indiana

Soar to New Heights: Seventh-Graders Explore Science with Paper Airplanes

September 2, 2025
Marcos orders lifestyle audit of all government officials — Dateline Philippines – Asian Journal News

Marcos Initiates Comprehensive Lifestyle Audit of Government Officials to Boost Accountability

September 2, 2025
China’s CATL sells stake in Finnish subcontract car manufacturer – Reuters

China’s CATL Sells Stake in Finnish Auto Supplier in Strategic Move

September 2, 2025
Mariners call up top catcher prospect Harry Ford, which could help Cal Raleigh late in season – Yahoo Sports

Mariners Elevate Top Catcher Prospect Harry Ford, Strengthening Cal Raleigh’s Late-Season Push

September 2, 2025
ECB’s Lagarde warns of risk to world economy via Trump interference on Fed – Reuters

ECB’s Lagarde warns of risk to world economy via Trump interference on Fed – Reuters

September 1, 2025
The Resilient Engine: Investing in Poland’s Outperforming Economy Amid Global Slowdown – AInvest

The Resilient Engine: Why Investing in Poland’s Booming Economy Is a Smart Move Amid Global Slowdown

September 1, 2025
Country music star apologizes after drunken show ends with cops taking him down: ‘I’m not OK’ – PennLive.com

Country Music Star Apologizes After Drunken Show Ends in Police Intervention: ‘I’m Not OK

September 1, 2025
Arts to promote mental health goal of new University of Michigan clinical program – MLive.com

Innovative University of Michigan Program Harnesses the Arts to Enhance Mental Health

September 1, 2025

Categories

Archives

September 2025
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930 
« Aug    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (802)
  • Economy (820)
  • Entertainment (21,700)
  • General (16,804)
  • Health (9,861)
  • Lifestyle (835)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (822)
  • Politics (828)
  • Science (16,031)
  • Sports (21,319)
  • Technology (15,801)
  • World (801)

Recent News

Construction of forest ecological security patterns based on MSPA model and circuit theory in the Desertification Control forests in South China Karst – Nature

Construction of forest ecological security patterns based on MSPA model and circuit theory in the Desertification Control forests in South China Karst – Nature

September 2, 2025
Bringing life science to life: Park Crossing teacher recognized – WSFA

Bringing life science to life: Park Crossing teacher recognized – WSFA

September 2, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version