The Mechanical Properties of Spherical Viral Capsids
Abstract
This study lays the foundation for examining various mechanical properties
of spherical viral capsids. The icosahedral modes of various T = 1 through T = 4
spherical capsids were calculated and characterized using a rotation translation
blocks (RTB) method. Furthermore, the eigenvalue scaling between each mode
was calculated to determine the stiffening between each mode. MATLAB was
also utilized to calculate the thickness of the capsids that were examined. It was
found that there may be a relationship between the thickness and the eigenvalue
scaling for two particular capsids, Bacteriophage Q-beta Capsid and Turnip Yellow
Mosaic Virus. Moreover, no distinguishable pattern was found between the
eigenvalue scaling and the the behavior of the modes (e.g. the breathing mode
or the proteins on the 5-fold axis poking out while the 3- and 2-folds poke in),
although there may be a relationship between the behavior and the thickness
of the capsid. This observation is due to the slightly different mode behavior
between two capsids that are in the same family, namely Infectious Bursal Disease
Virus VP2 Subparticle is thicker at the 5-folds relative to IPNV Subviral
Particle. Further studies are recommended in the future to further examine this
topic since the relationship between thickness, the eigenvalue scaling, and the
mode behavior may have implications for bioengineering applications such as
drug delivery, and structural modification in medical applications.