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Mechanism of Virus Capsid Assembly and Disassembly



Many possible intermediates exist on the assembly path from hepatitis B capsid protein dimers to the 120-dimer capsid. If every intermediate were tested, the assembly would often get stuck for entropic reasons, and essentially, every capsid would follow a unique assembly path. Yet, capsids assemble rapidly with minimal trapped intermediates. To understand the fundamental mechanisms of capsid assembly, it is critical to resolve the early stages of the reaction.