title: Testing the balanced electrostatic interaction hypothesis of hepatitis B virus DNA synthesis by using an in vivo charge rebalance approach.
abstract: Previously, a charge balance hypothesis was proposed to explain hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid stability, assembly, RNA encapsidation, and DNA replication. This hypothesis emphasized the importance of a balanced electrostatic interaction between the positive charge from the arginine-rich domain (ARD) of the core protein (HBc) and the negative charge from the encapsidated nucleic acid. It remains unclear if any of the negative charge involved in this electrostatic interaction could come from the HBc protein per se, in addition to the encapsidated nucleic acid. HBc ARD IV mutant 173GG and ARD II mutant 173RR/R157A/R158A are arginine deficient and replication defective. Not surprisingly, the replication defect of ARD IV mutant 173GG can be rescued by restoring positively charged amino acids at the adjacent positions 174 and 175. However, most interestingly, it can be at least partially rescued by reducing negatively charged residues in the assembly domain, such as by glutamic acid-to-alanine (E-to-A) substitutions at position 46 or 117 and to a much lesser extent at position 113. Similar results were obtained for ARD II mutant 173RR/R157A/R158A. These amino acids are located on the inner surfaces of HBc icosahedral particles, and their acidic side chains point toward the capsid interior. For HBV DNA synthesis, the relative amount of positive versus negative charge in the electrostatic interactions is more important than the absolute amount of positive or negative charge. These results support the concept that balanced electrostatic interaction is important during the viral life cycle.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Human Infections and Immunology, Department of Pathology, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0609, USA.
authors.forename: Pong Kian
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Fan-Mei
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jyuan-Yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ching-Shu
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Suen
authors.forename: Chiaho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002213:Capsid / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009154:Mutation; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012694:Serine / Q000378:metabolism; D055672:Static Electricity; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D012694:Serine; D001120:Arginine