Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, Center for the Study of Hepatitis C, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave., New York, NY 10065, USA.
J Virol. 2010 Feb;84(4):1666-73. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02043-09. Epub 2009 Dec 9.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a liver-tropic pathogen with severe health consequences for infected individuals. Chronic HCV infection can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and is a leading indicator for liver transplantation. The HCV core protein is an essential component of the infectious virus particle, but many aspects of its role remain undefined. The C-terminal region of the core protein acts as a signal sequence for the E1 glycoprotein and undergoes dual processing events during infectious virus assembly. The exact C terminus of the mature, virion-associated core protein is not known. Here, we performed genetic analyses to map the essential determinants of the HCV core C-terminal region, as well as to define the minimal length of the protein that can function for infectious virus production in trans.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是一种嗜肝病原体，对感染个体的健康有严重影响。慢性 HCV 感染可进展为肝硬化和肝细胞癌，是肝移植的主要指征。HCV 核心蛋白是感染性病毒颗粒的重要组成部分，但它的许多作用仍未得到明确。核心蛋白的 C 末端区域充当 E1 糖蛋白的信号序列，并在感染性病毒组装过程中经历双重加工事件。成熟的、与病毒相关的核心蛋白的确切 C 末端尚不清楚。在这里，我们进行了遗传分析，以确定 HCV 核心 C 末端区域的必需决定因素，并确定可用于转染产生感染性病毒的蛋白的最小长度。
