In two natural HBe-minus hepatitis B virus mutants, expression of HBe protein was abrogated by a nonsense mutation at precore codon 28 and a frameshift mutation at codon 29, respectively. Both mutants contained an additional nucleotide substitution(s) which was found by transfection experiments to be required for efficient packaging of pregenomic RNA. The observed mutational profiles were consistent with the presence of a base-paired region of the pregenome encapsidation signal overlapping the HBe-coding sequence. Results obtained with artificial mutants with significant changes in the primary sequence suggested that base pairing is required but insufficient for efficient pregenome packaging. However, the predicted first four base pairs of the stem are dispensable.
Infection by human and animal hepadnaviruses displays remarkable host and tissue tropism. The infection cycle probably initiates with binding of the pre-S domain of viral envelope protein to surface receptors present on the hepatocyte. Three types of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) have their binding sites clustered within residues 83 to 107 of the pre-S protein, suggesting that this region may constitute a major receptor binding site. A 170-or 180-kDa duck protein (p170 or gp180) which binds DHBV particles through this part of the pre-S sequence has been identified recently. Although the p170 binding protein is host (duck) specific, its distribution is not restricted to DHBV-infectible tissues. Using the pre-S protein fused to glutathione S-transferase and immobilized on Sepharose beads, we have now identified an additional binding protein with a size of 120 kDa (p120). p120 expression is restricted to the liver, kidney, and pancreas, the three major organs of DHBV replication. While optimal p170 binding requires an intact pre-S protein, binding to p120 occurs much more efficiently with a few N-or C-terminally truncated forms. The p120 binding site was mapped to residues 98 to 102 of the pre-S region, which overlaps with a cluster of known virus-neutralizing epitopes. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed residues 100 to 102 (Phe-Arg-Arg) as the critical p120 contact site; nonconservative substitution in any of the three positions abolished p120 binding. Double mutations at positions 100 to 102 markedly reduced DHBV infectivity in cell culture. Short pre-S peptides covering the clustered neutralizing epitopes (also p170 and p120 binding sites) reduced DHBV infectivity in primary duck hepatocyte cultures. Thus, p120 represents a candidate component of the DHBV receptor complex.Interaction between a viral envelope protein and its cell surface receptor(s) initiates the virus infection cycle and often determines the host range and tissue tropism (for a recent review, see reference 6). Virus-receptor interactions may be complex processes. For example, binding of human immunodeficiency virus to CD4 molecules is insufficient to allow viral infection of mouse T lymphocytes (18), and adenovirus attachment to cell surface and subsequent internalization require two separate steps involving distinct cellular proteins (29). We are interested in identifying the cellular protein(s) required for attachment and penetration of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV), an avian relative of the human hepatitis B virus. Accumulating evidence supports the idea that the pre-S region of the DHBV large envelope protein mediates receptor binding and determines species specificity (7, 10, 26). Binding of DHBV particles to Pekin duck hepatocytes has recently been demonstrated (22), but the exact receptor contact sites have not been identified. Binding sites for pre-S-neutralizing antibodies are located in residues 58 to 66, 83 to 90, 91 to 99, 100 to 107, and 139 to 145 (2, 30), with three neutralizing epitopes b...
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