Nucleocapsid protein | |||||||||
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![]() Model of the external structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virion.[1] The N protein, contained entirely within the virion, is not visible.
● Blue: envelope ● Turquoise: spike glycoprotein (S) ● Red: envelope proteins (E) ● Green: membrane proteins (M) ● Orange: glycans | |||||||||
Identifiers | |||||||||
Symbol | CoV_nucleocap | ||||||||
Pfam | PF00937 | ||||||||
InterPro | IPR001218 | ||||||||
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The nucleocapsid (N) protein is a protein that packages the positive-sense RNA genome of coronaviruses to form ribonucleoprotein structures enclosed within the viral capsid.[2][3] The N protein is the most highly expressed of the four major coronavirus structural proteins.[2] In addition to its interactions with RNA, N forms protein-protein interactions with the coronavirus membrane protein (M) during the process of viral assembly.[2][3] N also has additional functions in manipulating the cell cycle of the host cell.[3][4] The N protein is highly immunogenic and antibodies to N are found in patients recovered from SARS and COVID-19.[5]