{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T00:18:02Z","timestamp":1790381882641,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,6]],"date-time":"2019-07-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1562371200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Japanese encephalitis (JE) is inflammation and swelling of the brain caused by the JE virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne member of the Flavivirus family. There are around 68,000 JE cases worldwide each year, many of which result in permanent brain damage and death. There is no specific treatment for JE. Here we present the crystal structure of the JEV capsid protein, a potential drug target, at 1.98 \u00c5, and compare it to other flavivirus capsid proteins. The JEV capsid has a helical secondary structure (\u03b1 helixes 1\u20134) and a similar protein fold to the dengue virus (DENV), the West Nile virus (WNV), and the Zika virus (ZIKV) capsid proteins. It forms a homodimer by antiparallel pairing with another subunit (\u2018) through \u03b1-helix 1-1\u2019, 2-2\u2019, and 4-4\u2019 interactions. This dimeric form is believed to be the building block of the nucleocapsid. The flexibility of the N-terminal \u03b1 helix-1 allows the formation of closed and open conformations with possible functional importance. The basic C-terminal pairing of \u03b14-4\u2019 forms a coiled-coil-like structure, indicating possible nucleic acid binding functionality. However, a comparison with other nucleic acid interacting domains indicates that homodimerization would preclude binding. This is the first JEV capsid protein to be described and is an addition to the structural biology of the Flavivirus.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v11070623","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,8]],"date-time":"2019-07-08T03:01:31Z","timestamp":1562554891000},"page":"623","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":52,"title":["Crystal Structure of the Japanese Encephalitis Virus Capsid Protein"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Thanalai","family":"Poonsiri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Biophysics Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB Liverpool, UK"},{"name":"Health Protection Research Unit on Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, L69 7BE Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3756-9634","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gareth S. A.","family":"Wright","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Biophysics Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tom","family":"Solomon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Protection Research Unit on Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, L69 7BE Liverpool, UK"},{"name":"Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, L9 7LJ Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2779-9946","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Svetlana V.","family":"Antonyuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Biophysics Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZB Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"298","DOI":"10.1038\/nrneurol.2018.30","article-title":"Japanese encephalitis\u2014the prospects for new treatments","volume":"14","author":"Turtle","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. 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