Fig 1.

Effect of mutations in the GT3a core-E1 signal peptide on SPP proteolysis. (A) Amino acid sequences of the core-E1 signal peptide region for HCV genotypes 1 to 7. Representative strains for each genotype are shown in parentheses. The predicted n, h, and c regions within the signal peptide are indicated. The amino acid hydropathy at each position is indicated as neutral (n), hydrophobic (o), hydrophilic (i), or variable (v). (B) wt and mutant sequences for the core-E1 signal peptide from HCV3a-Gla examined with the SFV system. (C) HuH-7 cells were electroporated with in vitro-transcribed RNA from the indicated SFV constructs. Cell extracts were prepared at 16 h after electroporation and analyzed by Western blotting with an antibody against core. Open and closed circles indicate SP- and SPP-cleaved core species, respectively.