Electron microscopy reveals a meshlike protective layer in the viruses that cause herpes and mononucleosis, among other disorders. 
The Epstein–Barr virus and its relatives in the herpesvirus family are known for their longevity. They persist in host tissues for years, causing diseases like mononucleosis, Kaposi’s sarcoma and herpes, and are notoriously difficult to kill. University of California, Los Angeles, biophysicist Z. Hong Zhou thinks the secret to herpesviruses’ resilience may be a layer of microscopic chain mail.
Zhou and his colleagues examined the outer shells, or capsids, of a primate herpesvirus under an electron microscope and saw a pattern of interlocking protein rings. Those rings form a mesh that can withstand intense pressures and explain why herpesviruses can maintain decades-long infections.
The study, published in the October 7 issue of Structure, marks the first time anyone has been able to bring the herpesvirus structure into focus—literally. Solving the configuration of a viral capsid requires both the ability to discern individual molecules and the ability to see how those molecules fit together in the viral shell.
Herpesviruses are so big that they don’t fit within most electron microscopes’ fields of view. Trying to understand their structure by looking at atomic-resolution images is like trying to understand the anatomy of an elephant based on extreme close-ups—easier said than done. Once Zhou’s team brought the image into focus, however, they saw a familiar pattern. The interlocking mesh pattern is very similar to the structure other virologists have found in bacteriophages, a family of viruses that infect bacteria, which suggests that herpesviruses and bacteriophages may share a common evolutionary origin. “We never would have seen that connection based on genetic sequences alone,” says Jack Johnson, a virologist at The Scripps Research Institute not involved with the study who first discovered the chain mail pattern in bacteriophages. “This study shows how important it is to actually look at the structure.”








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