A Sequence in the loop domain of hepatitis C virus E2 protein identified in silico as crucial for the selective binding to human CD81.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a species-specific pathogenic virus that infects only humans and chimpanzees. Previous studies have indicated that interactions between the HCV E2 protein and CD81 on host cells are required for HCV infection. To determine the crucial factors for species-specific interactions at the molecular level, this study employed in silico molecular docking involving molecular dynamic simulations of the binding of HCV E2 onto human and rat CD81s. In vitro experiments including surface plasmon resonance measurements and cellular binding assays were applied for simple validations of the in silico results. The in silico studies identified two binding regions on the HCV E2 loop domain, namely E2-site1 and E2-site2, as being crucial for the interactions with CD81s, with the E2-s

SUBMITTER: Chang CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5421814 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature