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Poliovirus and Rhinovirus
Exploring the Structure
Many structures of rhinovirus with antiviral drugs are available at the PDB, including the drug pleconaril, currently in clinical testing, shown here (PDB entry 1c8m). In this illustration, the drug is shown in spheres, and only four protein chains are shown, instead of the entire capsid. The inside of the virus is towards the bottom of the figure and the deep groove where the cellular receptor and antibodies bind can be seen on the upper side, shown with an arrow. Most drugs act by blocking protein binding sites or destabilizing a key interaction. These drugs, on the other hand, may act differently. They actually stabilize the virus structure so that it cannot release its cargo of RNA. The drugs bind in a little pocket under the deep groove that grabs onto the cellular receptor. Normally, the binding of virus to receptor shifts the structure of the virus, ultimately allowing the virus to release RNA. The drug, however, glues the virus shut.This illustration was created with RasMol. You can create similar illustrations by clicking on the PDB accession code above and then picking one of the options under View Structure.
A list of all picornaviruses in the PDB as of August, 2001 is available here. For more information on picornaviruses, click here.
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Last changed by: A.Honegger,