Identification of basic amino acids at the N-terminal end of the core protein that are crucial for hepatitis C virus infectivity.

ABSTRACT: A major function of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein is the interaction with genomic RNA to form the nucleocapsid, an essential component of the virus particle. Analyses to identify basic amino acid residues of HCV core protein, important for capsid assembly, were initially performed with a cell-free system, which did not indicate the importance of these residues for HCV infectivity. The development of a cell culture system for HCV (HCVcc) allows a more precise analysis of these core protein amino acids during the HCV life cycle. In the present study, we used a mutational analysis in the context of the HCVcc system to determine the role of the basic amino acid residues of the core protein in HCV infectivity. We focused our analysis on basic residues located in two clusters (cluster

SUBMITTER: Alsaleh K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3004332 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature