Figure 1.
Comparison of the N- and C-terminal sequences of four variants of the HBV capsid protein. In its N terminus (residues −8 to 2), Cpe has a 10-residue extension derived from β-galactosidase and lacks the first two residues of the wild-type assembly domain; also, it lacks the five distal residues of the wild-type assembly domain, but has two extraneous C-terminal residues (Ile 145, Ser 146). The reference construct, Cp147, has a normal N terminus and terminates at position 147. The 34-residue “protamine” domain at the C terminus of HBcAg engages in RNA binding.