Nucleoprotein

Rabies virus (RABV), scientific name Rabies lyssavirus, is a deadly neurotropic virus that causes rabies in humans and animals. Rabies virus has an extremely wide host range and its transmission most often occur through the saliva of animals. Without intervention prior to disease progression, rabies has the highest case fatality of any infectious disease. RABV contains a single-stranded negative-sense RNA genome that encodes five structural proteins: nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), glycoprotein (G), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L). RABV N protein is 450 amino acids long and serves the critical function of tightly packaging the RNA genome into an RNase-resistant core. Encapsidation of the genomic RNA by newly synthesized N is believed to switch viral RNA from transcription to replication. Furthermore, N is a major antigen for RABV to stimulate Th cells and antibody production.