Synthesis in vitro of type 5 adenovirus capsid proteins.

Reaction mixtures containing cytoplasmic extracts and ribosomal fractions prepared from KB cells infected with type 5 adenovirus were able to carry out incorporation of amino acids into protein. The in vitro product included proteins which reacted specifically with antisera to adenovirus capsid proteins; in control experiments with extracts from uninfected cells, no reactions with the antisera were found. The viral proteins were synthesized in vitro on small polyribosomes, were released from them, and significant numbers of the free polypeptides were assembled in vitro into multimeric adenovirus capsid structures.