RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Minimal Design Principles for Icosahedral Virus Capsids
A1 Martín Bravo, Manuel
A1 Gómez Llorente, José María
A1 Hernández Rojas, Javier
A1 Wales, David J.
K1 virus capsids
K1 icosahedral shells
K1 optimal packing
K1 cost functions
K1 basin-hopping
AB The geometrical structures of single- and multiple-shell icosahedral virus capsids are reproduced as the targetsthat minimize the cost corresponding to relatively simple designfunctions. Capsid subunits are first identified as building blocksat a given coarse-grained scale and then represented in thesefunctions as point particles located on an appropriate numberof concentric spherical surfaces. Minimal design cost is assignedto optimal spherical packings of the particles. The costfunctions are inspired by the packings favored for the Thomsonproblem, which minimize the electrostatic potential energy between identical charged particles. In some cases, icosahedral symmetry constraints are incorporated as external fields acting on the particles. The simplest cost functions can be obtained by separating particles in disjoint nonequivalent sets with distinct interactions, or by introducing interacting holes (the absence ofparticles). These functions can be adapted to reproduce any capsid structure found in real viruses. Structures absent in Nature require significantly more complex designs. Measures of information content and complexity are assigned to both the cost functions and the capsid geometries. In terms of these measures, icosahedral structures and the corresponding cost functions are the simplest solutions.
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/41463
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/41463
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 26-abr-2025