The Mechanism of Action of Hepatitis B Virus Capsid Assembly Modulators Can Be Predicted from Binding to Early Assembly Intermediates.

ABSTRACT: Interfering with the self-assembly of virus nucleocapsids is a promising approach for the development of novel antiviral agents. Applied to hepatitis B virus (HBV), this approach has led to several classes of capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) that target the virus by either accelerating nucleocapsid assembly or misdirecting it into noncapsid-like particles, thereby inhibiting the HBV replication cycle. Here, we have assessed the structures of early nucleocapsid assembly intermediates, bound with and without CAMs, using molecular dynamics simulations. We find that distinct conformations of the intermediates are induced depending on whether the bound CAM accelerates or misdirects assembly. Specifically, the assembly intermediates with bound misdirecting CAMs appear to be flattened relative t

SUBMITTER: Pavlova A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9026740 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature