HCV envelope protein function is dependent on the peptides preceding the glycoproteins.
Although significant advances have been made on the studies of HCV glycoproteins (E1 and E2) recently, the role of the peptides preceding each glycoprotein remains unclear. We expressed E1 and E2 using two individual plasmids to form HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) in order to characterize the peptides preceding E1 and E2. Our data show that 14 amino acids from the HCV core and 12 amino acids from the E1 C-terminus are required for E1 and E2 function, respectively. The lack of a long enough peptide preceding E1 or E2 will abolish HCVpp infectivity, and the presence of fewer than 14 amino acids ahead of E1 and 12 amino acids ahead of E2 may alter their glycosylation. Furthermore, the peptides preceding E1 and E2 may be interchanged or may be replaced by those from genotype 2a. Our findings may contribute to the future development of new anti-HCV drugs.
Bian
Tao
T
National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Yingxin Street 100, Xuanwu Distract, Beijing 100052, PR China.
Zhou
Yongdong
Y
Bi
Shengli
S
Tan
Wenjie
W
Wang
Yue
Y
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D053586:Virus Internalization
C087035:E1 protein, Hepatitis C virus; D010455:Peptides; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus