Figure 1

Overall structure of the vault shell. One molecule of MVP is colored in tan, and the others are colored in purple. (Left) Side view of the ribbon representation. The whole vault shell comprises a 78-oligomer polymer of MVP molecules. The size of the whole particle is ~670 Å from the top to the bottom and ~400 Å in maximum diameter. The particle has two protruding caps, two shoulders, and a body with an invaginated waist. Two half-vaults are associated at the waist with N-terminal domains of MVP. (Right) Top view of the ribbon representation. The maximum diameter of the cap is ~200 Å. The outer and the inner diameters of the cap-ring are shown. Figure reproduced from Tanaka et al. (2009) with permission from The American Association for the Advancement of Science (Sciences Magazine).