{"doi":"10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108986","title":"Cellular mRNA triggers structural transformation of Ebola virus matrix protein VP40 to its essential regulatory form","abstract":"The Ebola virus matrix protein VP40 forms distinct structures linked to distinct functions in the virus life cycle. Dimeric VP40 is a structural protein associated with virus assembly, while octameric, ring-shaped VP40 is associated with transcriptional control. In this study, we show that suitable nucleic acid is sufficient to trigger a dynamic transformation of VP40 dimer into the octameric ring. Deep sequencing reveals a binding preference of the VP40 ring for the 3' untranslated region of cellular mRNA and a guanine- and adenine-rich binding motif. Complementary analyses of the nucleic-acid-induced VP40 ring by native mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, and X-ray crystal structures at 1.8 and 1.4 Å resolution reveal the stoichiometry of RNA binding, as well as an interface involving a key guanine nucleotide. The host factor-induced structural transformation of protein structure in response to specific RNA triggers in the Ebola virus life cycle presents unique opportunities for therapeutic inhibition.","journal":"Cell Reports","year":2021,"id":187301,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":18,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9501,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":746825,"name":"Hal Wasserman","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":440059,"name":"Glenn Oliveira","orcid":"0000-0002-7786-0303","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":242362,"name":"Zachary L. VanAernum","orcid":"0000-0002-0956-3956","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":242359,"name":"Florian Büsch","orcid":"0000-0002-4324-6065","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":746399,"name":"Zhe Salie","orcid":"0000-0003-2063-1013","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":242368,"name":"Vicki H. Wysocki","orcid":"0000-0003-0495-2538","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":234927,"name":"Kristian G. Andersen","orcid":"0000-0001-6431-5982","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":104945,"name":"Erica Ollmann Saphire","orcid":"0000-0002-1206-7451","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":567045,"name":"Sara Landeras-Bueno","orcid":"0000-0003-2143-2569","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":58,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:48:51.315888Z","pmid":"33852858","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}