title: Understanding Amino Acid Mutations in Hepatitis B Virus Proteins for Rational Design of Vaccines and Drugs.
abstract: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome encodes four proteins, i.e., DNA polymerase, surface protein, X, and core proteins. HBV undergoes different selective pressures for drug resistance and immune/vaccine escape and mutations are common for the HBV proteins. We here collected all the reported amino acid mutations happened in these four HBV proteins and studied their patterns. The relationship between the mutations and epitopic functions are investigated with bioinformatics tools, based on their sequence information. Some interesting results are observed for the mutation patterns, such as we found the serine and threonine are both for frequently mutated residues and mutant residues, while the tryptophan and methionine have low mutability. The results provide important information for the understanding of the molecular mechanism of virus evolution and therefore will facilitate the future rational design of HBV vaccines or drugs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 PR China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 PR China; Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620 PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 PR China; School of Medicine, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123 PR China. Electronic address: szjiangzhi@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Biology, School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 PR China. Electronic address: bairong.shen@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bairong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D015195:Drug Design; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Bioinformatics; Hepatitis B virus; Mutational patterns; Rational vaccine design