Studies of reversible capsid shell growth

TL;DR

This paper uses molecular dynamics simulations to study the reversible self-assembly of virus-like capsid shells, highlighting the importance of reversibility in the growth process and providing insights into virus capsid formation.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation approach to model virus capsid growth, emphasizing the role of reversibility in assembly pathways.

Findings

Reversibility is crucial for proper shell assembly.

Growth pathways involve specific events influenced by reversibility.

Simulations reveal detailed growth histories of individual shells.

Abstract

Results from molecular dynamics simulations of simple, structured particles capable of self-assembling into polyhedral shells are described. The analysis focuses on the growth histories of individual shells in the presence of an explicit solvent and the nature of the events along their growth pathways; the results provide further evidence of the importance of reversibility in the assembly process. The underlying goal of this approach is the modeling of virus capsid growth, a phenomenon at the submicroscopic scale that, despite its importance, is little understood.