The Adenovirus particle is icosahedral and has a diameter of approximately 90 nm.  It is made up of an outer capsid and an inner DNA-associated core with a 36 kbp linear dsDNA, two terminal proteins and the DNA-condensing proteins V and VII.  The chromosome also contains about ten copies of the cysteine protease p23 (1; 2).  It is connected to the inside wall of the capsid by protein VI (3).  The capsid itself consists mainly of hexon proteins and is stabilized by proteins IIIa, VIII and IX.  The vertices of the capsid are made up of pentameric penton base and protruding trimeric fibers.  The fibers are built by a linear shaft and a carboxy-terminal globular head domain of about 200 amino acids containing the receptor binding determinant (4; 5).

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