Cytoplasmic tails of hantavirus glycoproteins interact with the nucleocapsid protein Hepojoki, J. and Strandin, T. and Wang, H. and Vapalahti, O. and Vaheri, A. and Lankinen, H.,, 91, 2341-2350 (2010), doi = https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.021006-0, publicationName = Microbiology Society, issn = 0022-1317, abstract= Here we characterize the interaction between the glycoproteins (Gn and Gc) and the ribonucleoprotein (RNP) of Puumala virus (PUUV; genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae). The interaction was initially established with native proteins by co-immunoprecipitating PUUV nucleocapsid (N) protein with the glycoprotein complex. Mapping of the interaction sites revealed that the N protein has multiple binding sites in the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of Gn and is also able to bind to the predicted CT of Gc. The importance of Gn- and Gc-CTs to the recognition of RNP was further verified in pull-down assays using soluble peptides with binding capacity to both recombinant N protein and the RNPs of PUUV and Tula virus. Additionally, the N protein of PUUV was demonstrated to interact with peptides of Gn and Gc from a variety of hantavirus species, suggesting a conserved RNP-recognition mechanism within the genus. Based on these and our previous results, we suggest that the complete hetero-oligomeric (Gn–Gc)4 spike complex of hantaviruses mediates the packaging of RNP into virions., language=, type=