Mechanisms governing hepadnaviral nucleocapsid assembly.
Reverse transcription of an RNA pregenome is the central step in the replication cycle of the hepatitis B viruses. This reaction takes place within the viral nucleocapsid composed of the core protein, product(s) of the P (pol) gene and the RNA pregenome. As the enzymatic activities required reside in the P-protein it plays a major role in the hepadnaviral life cycle. This article summarizes recent data on structure and function of the hepadnaviral P-protein and discusses its important role in the early steps of nucleocapsid assembly.
Bartenschlager
R
R
Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Schaller
H
H
D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D015613:Hepadnaviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology
D012367:RNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins