以牛痘病毒为载体的乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原基因的表达

乙型肝炎是一种严重危害人类健康的疾病,对它的防治国内外均十分重视。乙型肝炎是由乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)感染所致。HBV是部分单链的DNA病毒,其基因组编码了表面抗原蛋白、核心抗原蛋白以及内源DNA聚合酶等蛋白质。乙肝表面抗原蛋白(HBsAg)是病毒的外壳蛋白,在乙肝病人的血液中能形成直径约22nm的表面抗原颗粒。用它作为抗原给动物注射,可使动物产生专一性抗体。     

肝癌患者体内乙型肝炎病毒基因组的突变

乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)属于嗜肝DNA病毒科,其基因组有3．2kb,含4个重叠的开放阅读框架(ORF),编码核心蛋白、e蛋白、X蛋白、聚合酶以及HBV表面抗原(HBsAg)。为研究HBV的基因突变与肝细胞癌(HCC)发生的关系,本文对来自HCC病人不同基因型的HBV进行测序,研究其X、前C、前S和S区突变情况。     

单链抗体抑制乙肝病毒的研究

单链抗体已用于抗乙肝病毒(hepatitis B virus, HBV)的研究,目前已研制出作用于各种靶点,如HBV表面抗原pre-S1、核心蛋白(hepatitis B virus core antigen, HBc)、DNA聚合酶及X 蛋白的多种单链抗体。单链抗体对偶联的分子具有靶向定位作用,因此,对抗原的亲和性大小、对靶细胞内化(Internalization)的强弱及其自身结构的稳定性是影响单链抗体应用的主要因素。     

丙型肝炎病毒核心蛋白抑制乙型肝炎病毒转录的分子机理

为研究丙型肝炎病毒 (HCV)核心蛋白抑制乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV)表达的分子机理 ,从HCV和HBV共感染中国病人血清中分离了 5个含HCV 5′非编码区 ( 5′NCR)和核心区 (CR)cDNA序列的克隆 .序列比较和系统发育分析显示 :从共感染病例中分离的HCV序列与其它已发表的从单独HCV感染病例中分离的序列没有显著差异 .共转染实验证实采用从其中 1例共感染病人中分离的核心蛋白cDNA基因所表达的核心蛋白 ,可抑制HBV表面抗原 (HBsAg)和HBVe抗原 (HBeAg)的表达 ,缺失突变分析说明HCV核心蛋白的C端疏水区对这种抑制作用是必需的 ,报道基因产物分析进一步说明了HBVC启动子和增强子Ⅱ是HCV核心蛋白的效应靶序列之一 ,而HCV核心蛋白在肝细胞和非肝细胞中均对HBV和其他细胞和病毒的基因的转录起负调节作用 .因此 ,认为HCV核心蛋白是一种多功能的负调节因子 ,与HCV和HBV以及HCV与细胞之间的相互作用密切相关     

B型肝炎表面抗原基因在转化的小鼠细胞中的转录

小鼠L细胞用来研究病毒表面抗原基因(基因S)的转录,这种细胞是由带有B型肝炎病毒(HBV)DNA片段的重组质粒转化过的。在HBV基因组中绘出了一种HBV特有的、聚腺苷化的、2.3-kb的RNA的图。这种RNA与这个基因组的近75％杂交,并排斥HBV核心抗原基因(基因C)区。2.3kb的RNA类型只存在于产生B型肝炎表面抗原的     

乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原基因在大肠杆菌中的表达

通过次级克隆我们组建了乳糖操纵子启动基因控制下的乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原(HBsAg)基因片段和乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)基因组两种表达质粒,能在大肠杆菌中合成β-半乳糖苷酶乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原杂合蛋白,可被放射免疫分析和蛋白凝胶电泳所检测。     

含preS2的乙肝表面抗原基因的表达

HBV是一个含有部分单链区的环状双链DNA病毒,由表面抗原蛋白与脂构成的表面外壳和含核心抗原蛋白与病毒基因组的核心组成。编码病毒外壳蛋白即表面抗原的编码区是个大的开放读码区,它可分为S基因、preS2区和preS1区三部分,有三个相应的、彼此位相相同的翻译起始密码子ATG,分别编码分子量为24K和27K的主要S蛋白,     

用Far-Western印迹技术筛选人肝组织中与乙肝病毒表面抗原PreS1相互作用的蛋白

目的:利用Far-Western印迹技术从正常人肝组织中筛选乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)表面抗原PreS1结合蛋白,为阐明HBV的感染致病机理提供依据。方法:提取正常人肝组织细胞膜蛋白,双向电泳展示后转膜,对表达纯化获得的PreS1的重要片段与GST的融合蛋白PreS/1-48myr-GST进行Far-Western印迹实验,对筛选获得的蛋白点切胶,质谱鉴定。结果:对PreS/1-48myr-GST融合蛋白进行Far-Western-2D筛选,共获得22个蛋白点,经质谱鉴定获得15个候选相互作用蛋白,其中膜蛋白Ezrin可能在HBV感染致病过程中具有重要作用。结论:Ezrin蛋白能够与乙肝病毒表面抗原PreS1结合,其在HBV感染致病过程中的重要作用值得探索。     

乙肝病毒前核区基因的功能

<正>乙型肝炎病毒(HBV)有一个表面抗原(sAg)蛋白包埋的脂外壳,壳内有核心颗粒,颗粒由病毒DNA,核心抗原(cAg)及DNA聚合酶和共价连接DNA5'端的蛋白组成。用二巯基乙醇和加热法,或用中等强度的蛋白酶降解法处理外壳,可使cAg转化为与之密切相关的e抗原(eAg)。一般认为,血清eAg是cAg的另一种形式,或是其衍生物。乙肝病毒急性感染期的肝细胞内出现高水平的sAg和cAg,但eAg水平低。此     

大肠杆菌P蛋白和T蛋白的调节结构域互换研究

在细菌、真菌及植物中,分支酸是一种位于关键分叉点上的中间代谢物,是所有芳香族氨基酸合成的共同前体.它可在双功能酶分支酸变位酶(CM)和预苯酸脱水酶(PDT)的催化下合成苯丙氨酸,在另一个双功能酶分支酸变位酶和预苯酸脱氢酶(PDH)的催化下合成酪氨酸.前者被称为P蛋白,后者被称为T蛋白.大肠杆菌P蛋白和T蛋白有着类似的结构,P蛋白由CMp、PDT和调节结构域３个独立结构域组成,其变构调节因子是苯丙氨酸.T蛋白只有CMt和PDH两个独立结构域组成,起变构调节作用的调节结构域与PDH密不可分,其变构调节因子是酪氨酸.为了研究P蛋白和T蛋白的调节结构域的变构调节作用,应用融合蛋白技术将P蛋白和T蛋白的调节结构域进行了互换.结果发现,互换了的调节结构域仍然具有变构调节作用,而且调节结构域的互换导致了变构调节因子的互换,说明调节结构域对酶活性的调节作用是非专一的,而其R结构域与调节因子的结合却是专一的.     

Mechanisms for inhibition of hepatitis B virus gene expression and replication by hepatitis C virus core protein

We have demonstrated previously that the core protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) exhibits suppression activity on gene expression and replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Here we further elucidated the suppression mechanism of HCV core protein. We demonstrated that HCV core protein retained the inhibitory effect on HBV gene expression and replication when expressed as part of the full length of HCV polyprotein. Based on the substitution mutational analysis, our results suggested that mutation introduced into the bipartite nuclear localization signal of the HCV core protein resulted in the cytoplasmic localization of core protein but did not affect its suppression ability on HBV gene expression. Mutational studies also indicated that almost all dibasic residue mutations within the N-terminal 101-amino acid segment of the HCV core protein (except Arg(39)-Arg(40)) impaired the suppression activity on HBV replication but not HBV gene expression. The integrity of Arg residues at positions 101, 113, 114, and 115 was found to be essential for both suppressive effects, whereas the Arg residue at position 104 was important only in the suppression of HBV gene expression. Moreover, our results indicated that the suppression on HBV gene expression was mediated through the direct interaction of HCV core protein with the trans-activator HBx protein, whereas the suppression of HBV replication involved the complex formation between HBV polymerase (pol) and the HCV core protein, resulting in the structural incompetence for the HBV pol to bind the package signal and consequently abolished the formation of the HBV virion. Altogether, this study suggests that these two suppression effects on HBV elicited by the HCV core protein likely depend on different structural context but not on nuclear localization of the core protein, and the two effects can be decoupled as revealed by its differential targets (HBx or HBV pol) on these two processes of the HBV life cycle.     

Identification of SRPK1 and SRPK2 as the major cellular protein kinases phosphorylating hepatitis B virus core protein

Phosphorylation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein has recently been shown to be a prerequisite for pregenomic RNA encapsidation into viral capsids, but the host cell kinases mediating this essential step of the HBV replication cycle have not been identified. We detected two kinases of 95 and 115 kDa in HuH-7 total cell lysates which interacted specifically with the HBV core protein and phosphorylated its arginine-rich C-terminal domain. The 95-kDa kinase was purified and characterized as SR protein-specific kinase 1 (SRPK1) by mass spectrometry. Based on this finding, the 115-kDa kinase could be identified as the related kinase SRPK2 by immunoblot analysis. In vitro, both SRPKs phosphorylated HBV core protein on the same serine residues which are found to be phosphorylated in vivo. Moreover, the major cellular HBV core kinase activity detected in the total cell lysate showed biochemical properties identical to those of SRPK1 and SRPK2, as examined by measuring binding to a panel of chromatography media. We also clearly demonstrate that neither the cyclin-dependent kinases Cdc2 and Cdk2 nor protein kinase C, previously implicated in HBV core protein phosphorylation, can account for the HBV core protein kinase activity. We conclude that both SRPK1 and SRPK2 are most likely the cellular protein kinases mediating HBV core protein phosphorylation during viral infection and therefore represent important host cell targets for therapeutic intervention in HBV infection.     

Core protein phosphorylation modulates pregenomic RNA encapsidation to different extents in human and duck hepatitis B viruses

To clarify the role of core protein phosphorylation in pregenomic-RNA encapsidation of human and duck hepatitis B viruses (HBV and DHBV, respectively), we have examined the phosphorylation states of different forms of intracellular HBV core protein and the phenotypic effects of mutations in the phosphorylation sites of HBV and DHBV core proteins. We show that HBV core protein is phosphorylated to similar extents in the form of protein dimers and after further assembly in pregenomic RNA-containing capsids. Individual and multiple substitutions of alanine and aspartic acid for serine in the phosphorylation sites of HBV core protein resulted in site-specific and synergistic effects on RNA encapsidation, ranging from 2-fold enhancement to more than 10-fold inhibition. Core protein variants with mutations in all phosphorylation sites exhibited dominant-negative effects on RNA encapsidation by wild-type protein. The results suggest that the presence of phosphoserine at position 162 of HBV core protein is required for pregenomic-RNA encapsidation, whereas phosphoserine at position 170 optimizes the process and serine might be preferable in position 155. Examination of the pregenomic-RNA-encapsidating capacities of DHBV core protein variants, in which four phosphorylation sites were jointly mutated to alanine or aspartic acid, suggests that phosphorylation of DHBV core protein at these sites may optimize pregenomic-RNA encapsidation but that its impact is much less profound than in the case of HBV. The possible mechanisms by which RNA encapsidation may be modulated by core protein phosphorylation are discussed in the context of the observed differences between the two viruses.     

Mechanisms and Effects on HBV Replication of the Interaction between HBV Core Protein and Cellular Filamin B

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the major problems that threatens global health. There have been many studies on HBV, but the relationship between HBV and host factors is largely unexplored and more studies are needed to clarify these interactions. Filamin B is an actin-binding protein that acts as a cytoskeleton protein, and it is involved in cell development and several signaling pathways. In this study, we showed that filamin B interacted with HBV core protein, and the interaction promoted HBV replication. The interaction between filamin B and core protein was observed in HEK 293T, Huh7 and HepG2 cell lines by co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization immnofluoresence. Overexpression of filamin B increased the levels of HBV total RNAs and pre-genome RNA (pgRNA), and improved the secretion level of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). In contrast, filamin B knockdown inhibited HBV replication, decreased the level of HBV total RNAs and pgRNA, and reduced the secretion level of HBsAg and HBeAg. In addition, we found that filamin B and core protein may interact with each other via four blocks of argentine residues at the C-terminus of core protein. In conclusion, we identify filamin B as a novel host factor that can interact with core protein to promote HBV replication in hepatocytes. Our study provides new insights into the relationship between HBV and host factors and may provide new strategies for the treatment of HBV infection.     

Hepatitis B virus core protein interacts with the C-terminal region of actin-binding protein

Hepatitis B viral core protein is present in the nucleus and cytoplasm of infected hepatocytes. There is a strong correlation between the intrahepatic distribution of core protein and the viral replication state and disease activity in patients with chronic hepatitis. To understand the role of core protein in the pathogenesis of HBV, we used a yeast two-hybrid system to search for cellular proteins interacting with the carboxyl terminus of core protein, as this region is involved in a number of important functions in the viral replication cycle including RNA packaging and DNA synthesis. A cDNA encoding the extreme C-terminal region of human actin-binding protein, ABP-276/278, was identified. This interaction was further confirmed both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the extreme C-terminal region of ABP-276/278 interacted with the nearly full-length HBV core protein. Since this region is present in both the core and the precore proteins, it is likely that both core and precore proteins of HBV can interact with the C-terminal region of ABP-276/278. The minimal region of ABP-276/278 which interacted with the HBV core protein was the C-terminal 199 amino acid residues which correspond to part of the 23rd repeat, the entire 24th repeat and the intervening hinge II region in ABPs. The potential functional outcome of ABP interaction in HBV replication and its contribution to the pathological changes seen in patients with chronic HBV infection are discussed.     

SAR studies in the sulfonyl carboxamide class of HBV capsid assembly modulators

The HBV core protein has multiple essential functions in the HBV life cycle to enable chronic HBV infection. The core protein oligomerizes to form the viral capsid, and modulation of the HBV capsid assembly process has shown clinical efficacy in early clinical trials. Herein is described the SAR exploration of NVR 3-778, the first clinical compound in the sulfonyl carboxamide class.     

Identification of two separable modules in the duck hepatitis B virus core protein.

Hepadnavirus replication requires the concerted action of the polymerase and core proteins to ensure packaging of the RNA pregenome and DNA maturation. The arginine-rich C terminus of the core protein plays an essential role in both of these steps while being dispensable for nucleocapsid formation. In an attempt to identify other functional domains of the core protein, we performed a series of trans-complementation experiments analyzing the ability of duck and human hepatitis B virus (DHBV and HBV) core protein subunits to support the replication of a core-defective DHBV genome. Plasmids expressing the N-terminal amino acids 1 to 67 or the remaining C-terminal portion, amino acids 67 to 262, of the DHBV core protein were cotransfected into LMH cells along with a replication-deficient construct coding for the DHBV pregenome and polymerase. Neither the N nor the C terminus alone yielded replication-competent core particles. However, cotransfection of plasmids that separately expressed both regions restored a normal replication pattern. Furthermore, the DHBV C terminus but not the N terminus could be replaced by the corresponding domain of the HBV core protein in this assay. Finally, coexpression of the complete HBV core protein and the N terminus from DHBV resulted in DHBV replication, while the HBV core protein alone was not functional. Taken together, these findings suggest a modular organization of the DHBV core protein in which the C terminus is functionally conserved among different hepadnaviruses.