Chain, BM;
Myers, R;
(2005)
Variability and conservation in hepatitis B virus core protein.
BMC MICROBIOL
, 5
, Article 33. 10.1186/1471-2180-5-33.
![[thumbnail of 1471-2180-5-33.pdf]](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) Preview |
PDF
1471-2180-5-33.pdf Available under License : See the attached licence file. Download (460kB) |
Abstract
Background: Hepatitis B core protein (HBVc) has been extensively studied from both a structural and immunological point of view, but the evolutionary forces driving sequence variation within core are incompletely understood.Results: In this study, the observed variation in HBVc protein sequence has been examined in a collection of a large number of HBVc protein sequences from public sequence repositories. An alignment of several hundred sequences was carried out, and used to analyse the distribution of polymorphisms along the HBVc. Polymorphisms were found at 44 out of 185 amino acid positions analysed and were clustered predominantly in those parts of HBVc forming the outer surface and spike on intact capsid. The relationship between HBVc diversity and HBV genotype was examined. The position of variable amino acids along the sequence was examined in terms of the structural constraints of capsid and envelope assembly, and also in terms of immunological recognition by T and B cells.Conclusion: Over three quarters of amino acids within the HBVc sequence are non-polymorphic, and variation is focused to a few amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that core protein specific forces constrain its diversity within the context of overall HBV genome evolution. As a consequence, core protein is not a reliable predictor of virus genotype. The structural requirements of capsid assembly are likely to play a major role in limiting diversity. The phylogenetic analysis further suggests that immunological selection does not play a major role in driving HBVc diversity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Variability and conservation in hepatitis B virus core protein |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2180-5-33 |
| Publisher version: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/5/33 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2005 Chain and Myers; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | CELL EPITOPES, E-ANTIGEN, MUTATIONS, INFECTION, SEQUENCE, SITES, RECOMBINATION, IMMUNOTHERAPY, REPLICATION, DIVERSITY |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Infection and Immunity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/117996 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
