Primary Citation of Related Structures:   1K4R
PubMed Abstract: 
The first structure of a flavivirus has been determined by using a combination of cryoelectron microscopy and fitting of the known structure of glycoprotein E into the electron density map. The virus core, within a lipid bilayer, has a less-ordered structure than the external, icosahedral scaffold of 90 glycoprotein E dimers ...
The first structure of a flavivirus has been determined by using a combination of cryoelectron microscopy and fitting of the known structure of glycoprotein E into the electron density map. The virus core, within a lipid bilayer, has a less-ordered structure than the external, icosahedral scaffold of 90 glycoprotein E dimers. The three E monomers per icosahedral asymmetric unit do not have quasiequivalent symmetric environments. Difference maps indicate the location of the small membrane protein M relative to the overlaying scaffold of E dimers. The structure suggests that flaviviruses, and by analogy also alphaviruses, employ a fusion mechanism in which the distal beta barrels of domain II of the glycoprotein E are inserted into the cellular membrane.
Related Citations: 
Virology. When It's Better to Lie Low Kuhn, R.J., Rossmann, M.G. (1995) Nature 375: 275
The Envelope Glycoprotein from Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus at 2 A Resolution Rey, F.A., Heinz, F.X., Mandl, C., Kunz, C., Harrison, S.C. (1995) Nature 375: 291
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. rjkuhn@bragg.bio.purdue.edu