Περίληψη ομιλίας Dr. Mark J. van Raaij (18/07/2006)

Various viruses and bacteriophages use fibrous proteins to interact with their host cells. It is thought these relatively rigid fibres provide the viruses "reach", favouring host receptor interactions. Over the last decade, we have been able to determine various partial structures of viral fibres, notably those of adenovirus, bacteriophage T4 and reovirus. The structures and their implications for their stability, host interactions and possible use in materials science will be discussed.