A single retroviral protein, Gag, is sufficient for virus particle assembly. While Gag is capable of specifically packaging the genomic RNA into the particle, this RNA species is unnecessary for particle assembly in vivo. In vitro, nucleic acids profoundly enhance the efficiency of assembly by recombinant Gag proteins, apparently by acting as "scaffolding" in the particle. To address the participation of RNA in retrovirus assembly in vivo, we analyzed murine leukemia virus particles that lack genomic RNA because of a deletion in the packaging signal of the viral RNA. We found that these particles contain cellular mRNA in place of genomic RNA. This result was particularly evident when Gag was expressed by using a Semliki Forest virus-derived vector: under these conditions, the Semliki Forest virus vector-directed mRNA became very abundant in the cells and was readily identified in the retroviral virus-like particles. Furthermore, we found that the retroviral cores were disrupted by treatment with RNase. Taken together, the data strongly suggest that RNA is a structural element in retrovirus particles.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 12. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 November 2015.
All research outputs
#3,834,230
of 34,763,505 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#39,441
of 119,650 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,186
of 63,372 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#96
of 539 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,763,505 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 88th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 119,650 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 64% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 63,372 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 539 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.
