Mechanical Properties of Viral Capsids

Abstract

Viruses are known to tolerate wide ranges of pH and salt conditions and to withstand internal pressures as high as 100 atmospheres. In this paper we investigate the mechanical properties of viral capsids, calling explicit attention to the inhomogeneity of the shells that is inherent to their discrete and polyhedral nature. We calculate the distribution of stress in these capsids and analyze their response to isotropic internal pressure (arising, for instance, from genome confinement and/or osmotic activity). We compare our results with appropriate generalizations of classical (i.e., continuum) elasticity theory. We also examine competing mechanisms for viral shell failure, e.g., in-plane crack formation versus radial bursting. The biological consequences of the special stabilities and stress distributions of viral capsids are also discussed.

arXiv comment12 pages

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• Electrostatics-driven inflation of elastic icosahedral shells as a model for radial swelling of virus-like particles
• Modelling Virus Contact Mechanics under Atomic Force Imaging Conditions
• Isothermal evaporation rate of deposited liquid aerosols and the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus survival
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