Structure and assembly of the virion

Abstract

This article briefly catalogues most of the recognized virion proteins of cytomegalovirus (CMV), summarizes general features of the virion assembly pathway, and outlines some early protein-protein interactions that appear to play key roles in initiating and guiding the capsid assembly process. As more is learned about the structure and assembly of herpes group viruses in general, and CMV in particular, new targets and strategies for antiviral intervention can be anticipated, and insight into potentially similar mechanisms used in the formation of macromolecular structures in eukaryotic cells may be obtained.