Structure and Physics of Viruses: An Integrated Guide

The second edition of this book provides a completely updated account of the structure, dynamics, and physics of viral particles: from the moment they emerge by self-assembly from viral components produced in the infected cell, through their extracellular stage, until they recognize and infect a new host cell and cease to exist as they lose their physical integrity to initiate a new infectious cycle.

New insights into the structure of viruses, their physical properties, and mechanisms of action, derived from results obtained in the last decade, have been included, as well as other (bio)physical techniques to study the structure or dynamics of virus particles and components. These include, among many others, new advances in high-resolution electron cryomicroscopy; novel approaches in the use of electron cryotomography or the application of soft X-ray tomography to study viruses in the infected cell; high-speed atomic force microscopy to study virus assembly and dynamics; and the development of new antiviral drugs and vaccines. as well as of many nanomedical and nanotechnological applications of virus particles.

New chapters on the study of viruses inside infected cells and on technological applications of modified viral particles have been included in this second edition. The book is still aimed primarily at Master’s students, Ph.D. students, and postdoctoral researchers with degrees in biology, chemistry, physics or related scientific disciplines who have an interest in or are working with viruses. It provides an up-to-date overview of many important concepts, techniques, studies and applications in structural and physical virology for specialized researchers working with viruses, regardless of their field of specialization, covering the latest research together with fundamental concepts and well-established facts.

In short, this book is basic enough to be used by undergraduate and Ph.D. students, but advanced and up-to-date enough for experienced scientists with an interest in structural and/or physical virology.

Mauricio G. Mateu is a Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM), and a Group Leader at the Centro de Biología Molecular ＂Severo Ochoa＂ (Spanish Research Council-UAM). He combined training in biochemistry, molecular virology, and protein engineering in three prestigious laboratories, respectively led by Profs. Severo Ochoa and Esteban Domingo in Madrid, Spain, and Alan R. Fersht in Cambridge, UK, to establish a research line on the structural basis of virus function. His group uses protein engineering and biological, biochemical, and biophysical approaches, including atomic force microscopy, to understand the relationships between atomic structure, conformational stability and dynamics, physical properties, and biological function of viruses. His studies on viruses during the last 35 years have involved multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations with theoretical and condensed matter physicists, organic chemists, biochemists, structural biologists, biophysicists, and molecular virologists. He is the author of over 150 scientific publications, including over 110 original research articles.