Two hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2 products with different C termini.
Processing of the boundary region between the putative structural and nonstructural regions of the hepatitis C virus precursor polyprotein was analyzed by in vitro translation using reticulocyte lysate in the presence of canine microsomal membranes. At this boundary in the precursor polyprotein, the most carboxy-terminal of the structural proteins, gp70 (E2), is proximal to the amino terminal of the nonstructural protein p21 (NS2). The presence of a novel microsomal membrane-dependent cleavage site was observed at the region upstream of the amino-terminal end of p21 (NS2) in the precursor polyprotein. The cleavage site was assigned to amino acid residues 746/747 in the hepatitis C virus precursor polyprotein. Inefficient cleavage of this site resulted in the production of two forms of E2 products with different sizes of peptide backbones. Translation and cleavage of various C-terminal deletion constructs established the significance of the C-terminal hydrophobic amino acid sequences of E2 products in membrane anchoring.
Mizushima
H
H
Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Hijikata
M
M
Asabe
S
S
Hirota
M
M
Kimura
K
K
Shimotohno
K
K
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004285:Dogs; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D008861:Microsomes / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D017931:DNA Primers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins