Structural investigation of adenovirus

The representation of the structural polypeptides of adenovirus has been determined using [35S] methionine as a radiolabel for the proteins, and analytical sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for their separation. The known number of hexon polypeptides per virion was used to place the values on an absolute scale. Penton base was found in 60 copies, distributed as pentamers at the vertices in association with trimeric fibers. Polypeptides IX was present in 240 copies per virion, and 12 copies per group-of-nine hexon. Penton base was microheterogeneous, which could have resulted from the synthesis of penton based polypeptides from two different start codons. The relative amounts of the different penton base polypeptides suggest a mechanism by which the symmetry mismatch between penton base and fiber is resolved