Updated project metadata.
Using atomic force microscopy imaging and nanoindentation measurements, the effect of the minor capsid proteins pUL17 and pUL25 on the structural stability of the icosahedral Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 capsids was investigated. pUL17 and pUL25 that form the capsid vertex-specific component particularly contributed to the capsid resilience along the 5-fold and 2-fold, but not the 3-fold icosahedral axes. We tested whether deletion of UL17 and UL25 changed the levels of the proteins that assemble in the nucleocapsid by quantitative mass spectrometry.