Functional analysis of the highly antigenic outer capsid protein, Hoc, a virus decoration protein from T4-like bacteriophages

Bacteriophage T4 is decorated with 155 copies of the highly antigenic outer capsid protein, Hoc. The Hoc molecule (40 kDa) is present at the centre of each hexameric capsomer and provides a good platform for surface display of pathogen antigens. Biochemical and modelling studies show that Hoc consists of a string of four domains, three immunoglobulin (Ig)-like and one non-Ig domain at the C-terminus. Biochemical data suggest that the Hoc protein has two functional modules, a capsid binding module containing domains 1 and 4 and a solvent-exposed module containing domains 2 and 3. This model is consistent with the dumbbell-shaped cryo-EM density of Hoc observed in the reconstruction of the T4 capsid. Mutagenesis localized the capsid binding site to the C-terminal 25 amino acids, which are predicted to form two β-strands flanking a capsid binding loop. Mutations in the loop residues, ESRNG, abolished capsid binding, suggesting that these residues might interact with the major capsid protein, gp23*. With the conserved capsid binding module forming a foothold on the virus and the solvent-exposed module able to adapt to bind to a variety of surfaces, Hoc probably provides survival advantages to the phage, such as increasing the virus concentration near the host, efficient dispersion of the virus and exposing the tail for more efficient contact with the host cell surface prior to infection.