The acidic domain of the hepatitis C virus NS4A protein is required for viral assembly and envelopment through interactions with the viral E1 glycoprotein.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) assembly and envelopment are coordinated by a complex protein interaction network that includes most of the viral structural and nonstructural proteins. While the nonstructural protein 4A (NS4A) is known to be important for viral particle production, the specific function of NS4A in this process is not well understood. We performed mutagenesis of the C-terminal acidic domain of NS4A and found that mutation of several of these amino acids prevented the formation of the viral envelope, and therefore the production of infectious virions, without affecting viral RNA replication. In an overexpression system, we found that NS4A interacted with several viral proteins known to coordinate envelopment, including the viral E1 glycoprotein. One of the NS4A C-terminal mutations,

SUBMITTER: Roder AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6382253 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature