Bovine rotavirus VP6

Intermediate capsid protein that self assembles to form an icosahedral capsid with a T=13 symmetry, which consists of 230 trimers of VP6, with channels at each of its five-fold vertices. This capsid constitutes the middle concentric layer of the viral mature particle. The innermost VP2 capsid and the intermediate VP6 capsid remain intact following cell entry to protect the dsRNA from degradation and to prevent unfavorable antiviral responses in the host cell during all the replication cycle of the virus. Nascent transcripts are transcribed within the structural confines of this double-layered particle (DLP) and are extruded through the channels at the five-fold axes. VP6 is required for the transcription activity of the DLP.