Adenovirus Fiber Products

Adenovirus capsid proteins are synthesized in the cytoplasm and transported to the nucleus for assembly into the virus particles. The three major capsid proteins (hexon, penton base, and fiber) are synthesized late in infection. Fiber plays a crucial role in adenovirus infection by attaching the virus to a specific receptor on the cell surface. Ad2 and Ad5 fibers are proposed to consist of three domains: an N-terminal tail that interacts with penton base, a shaft composed of 22 repeats of a 15 amino acid segment that forms beta-sheet and beta-bends, and a knob at the C-terminus that contains the type-specific antigen and is responsible for binding to the cell surface receptor. It is shown that the fiber of Ad2 is most likely a trimer when found on the viron.