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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 5.
Published in final edited form as: Virology. 2013 Jan 5;435(1):118–130. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2012.09.029

Figure 2. The Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV) genome and capsids.

Figure 2

A) Schematic of the MCPyV prototype MCV350. The double-stranded DNA genome is approximately 5.4 kilobases in length. The bi-directional origin of replication (white) promotes temporal expression of discrete regions of the genome. The early region encodes three viral T antigens: large T antigen (LT; red), 57 kT antigen (57 kT; orange) and small t antigen (sT; yellow). The late region is transcribed in the opposite direction from the origin and encodes the viral structural proteins: the major capsid protein Virus Protein 1 (VP1; green), and the minor capsid proteins Virus Protein 2 and Virus Protein 3 (VP2; blue, VP3; gray). B) Transmission electron micrograph of MCPyV virus-like particles composed of VP1 and VP2 proteins. The VP1 and VP2 proteins self-assemble into ~50 nm icosahedral particles. (Scale bar=100 nm)