Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
J Virol. 2012 Aug;86(16):8879-83. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00370-12. Epub 2012 May 30.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) can be generated from Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), but different strains yield variable quantities of particles. Here, we define the genetic basis for these differences and show that amino acid 234 in E2 substantially affects VLP production. This site is located within the acid-sensitive region (ASR) known to initiate a major conformational change in E1/E2. Selected other mutations in the ASR, or changes in pH, also increased VLP yield. These results demonstrate that the ASR of E2 plays an important role in regulating particle generation.
病毒样颗粒（VLPs）可以从基孔肯雅病毒（CHIKV）中产生，但不同的毒株产生的颗粒数量不同。在这里，我们确定了这些差异的遗传基础，并表明 E2 中的氨基酸 234 会极大地影响 VLP 的产生。该位点位于酸敏感区（ASR）内，已知该区域会引发 E1/E2 中的主要构象变化。ASR 中的其他选定突变或 pH 变化也会增加 VLP 的产量。这些结果表明 E2 的 ASR 在调节颗粒生成中起着重要作用。
