CAPSID POLYPEPTIDES AND USE TO INHIBIT VIRAL PACKAGING

摘要

The present invention is directed to a viral capsid polypeptide capable of inhibiting viral packaging, the viral capsid polypeptide consisting of a portion of a viral capsid protein of an RNA virus and including a multimerization domain of the viral capsid protein. The invention further provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding such a viral capsid polypeptide. Expression vectors and host cells comprising the nucleic acid molecules are also provided, as well as a method for inhibiting viral packaging in a host cell by expressing the viral capsid polypeptide. In two preferred embodiments, the RNA virus is the ScVL1 virus or the ScVLa virus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.