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. 1994 Jun;68(6):4063–4066. doi: 10.1128/jvi.68.6.4063-4066.1994

The middle hepatitis B virus envelope protein is not necessary for infectivity of hepatitis delta virus.

C Sureau 1, B Guerra 1, H Lee 1
PMCID: PMC236918  PMID: 8189544

Abstract

The hepatitis delta virus (HDV) envelope contains the large (L), middle (M), and small (S) surface proteins encoded by coinfecting hepatitis B virus. Although HDV-like particles can be assembled with only the S protein in the envelope, the L protein is essential for infectivity in vitro (C. Sureau, B. Guerra, and R. Lanford, J. Virol. 67:366-372, 1993). Here, we demonstrate that the M protein, previously described as carrying a site for binding to polymerized human albumin, is not necessary for infectivity. HDV-like particles coated with the S plus L or the S plus M plus L proteins are infectious in primary cultures of chimpanzee hepatocytes. We conclude that the S and L proteins serve two essential functions in the HDV replication cycle; the S protein ensures the export of the HDV genome from an infected cell by forming a particle, and the L protein ensures its import into a human hepatocyte.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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