title: Two hepatitis C virus glycoprotein E2 products with different C termini.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizushima
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hijikata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asabe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimotohno
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins