title: Mosaic particles formed by wild-type hepatitis B virus core protein and its deletion variants consist of both homo- and heterodimers.
abstract: Co-expression in Escherichia coli of wild-type (wt) hepatitis B virus core protein (HBc) and its naturally occurring variants with deletions at amino acid positions 77-93 or 86-93 leads to formation of mosaic particles, which consist of three dimer subunit compositions. These compositions are wt/variant HBc heterodimers and two types of homodimers, formed by wt HBc or the variant HBc themselves. Mosaic particles were found also when both HBc deletion variants 77-93 and 86-93 were co-expressed in E. coli. These findings are discussed in terms of their significance for hepatitis B virus pathogenesis and prospective use of mosaic particles in vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research and Study Centre, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Andris
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazaks
authors.forename: Andris
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dishlers
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pumpens
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.forename: Detlev H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: Helga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meisel
mesh_terms: D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019281:Dimerization; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000209:etiology; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000737:chemistry*; D011485:Protein Binding; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D021122:Protein Subunits; D014758:Viral Core Proteins