Self-assembly of nucleocapsid-like particles from recombinant hepatitis C virus core protein.

The N-terminal half of the core protein of hepatitis C virus is sufficient for nucleocapsid formation.

The core (C) protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) appears to be a multifunctional protein that is involved in many viral and cellular processes. Although its effects on host cells have been extensively discussed in the literature, little is known about its main function, the assembly and packaging of the viral genome. We have studied the in vitro assembly of several deleted versions of recombinan...

Charge neutralization as the major factor for the assembly of nucleocapsid-like particles from C-terminal truncated hepatitis C virus core protein

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein, in addition to its structural role to form the nucleocapsid assembly, plays a critical role in HCV pathogenesis by interfering in several cellular processes, including microRNA and mRNA homeostasis. The C-terminal truncated HCV core protein (C124) is intrinsically unstructured in solution and is able to interact with unspecific nucleic acids, in ...

CpG Motif as an Adjuvant in Immunization of a Recombinant Plasmid Encoding Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein

Hepatitis C virus core protein is efficiently released into the culture medium in insect cells.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a causal agent of the chronic liver infection. To understand HCV morphogenesis, we studied the assembly of HCV structural proteins in insect cells. We constructed recombinant baculovirus expression vectors consisting of either HCV core alone, core-E1, or core-E1-E2. These structural proteins were expressed in insect cells and were examined to assemble into particles. ...

Overexpression of Full-Length Core Protein of Hepatitis C Virus by Escherichia coli Cultivated in Stirred Tank Fermentor

The mature core protein of the Hepatitis C virus (HCVC173) carrying pelB as a signal peptide (PelB::core) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as 18% and 23.3% of the host’s total protein, in flask and fermentor cultivation, respectively. A final specific yield of 25 ± 1 mg HCVC173/g dry cell weight and an overallproductivity of 51±1 mg HCVC173/l/h were obtained in the stirred-tank ferme...