Hepatitis C virus Core is an intriguing protein with important roles in life cycle of this pathogen. In the present work, recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing a genotype 1b HCV Core protein, individually (vvCore) or as a polyprotein Core-E1-E2 (vvRE), were generated and characterized. In general, viral titer of recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing the Core protein in BSC40 infected cells ...

The effect of prostaglandins (PGA1 and PGB2) on the replication of Mayaro virus was studied in Vero cells. PGA1 and PGB2 antiviral activity was found to be dose-dependent. However, while 10 micrograms/ml PGB2 inhibited virus yield by 60%, at the same dose PGA1 suppressed virus replication by more than 90%. SDS-PAGE analysis of [35S]-methionine-labelled proteins showed that PGA1 did not alter ce...

Replication of the genome of human papillomaviruses (HPV) is initiated by the recruitment of the viral E1 helicase to the origin of DNA replication by the viral E2 protein, which binds specifically to the origin. We determined, for HPV type 11 (HPV-11), that the C-terminal 296 amino acids of E1 are sufficient for interaction with the transactivation domain of E2 in the yeast two-hybrid system a...

we developed an immunogen to stimulate multivalent immunity against hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag) and hepatitis b core antigens (hbcag). immune responses specific for both hbsag and hbcag play an important role in controlling the infection. hbsag-specific antibodies mediate elimination of virions at an early stage of infection and prevent the spread of virus. the immunogen was constructed...

Analysis of [35S]methionine-labeled tryptic peptides of the large proteins induced by temperature-sensitive mutants of Semliki Forest virus was carried out. The 130,000-molecular-weight protein induced by ts-2 and ts-3 mutants contained the peptides of capsid protein and of both major envelope proteins E1 and E2. The ts-3-induced protein with molecular weight of 97,000 contained peptides of the...

The presence of anti-E2 antibody was investigated in the serum samples of 46 patients with liver disease, who were positive for hepatitis C virus-RNA, and in five subjects HCV-RNA-negative acting as controls. Antibody to E2/NS1 protein was found in seven of 46 (15%) of the patients with liver disease but in none of the control subjects. In one patient who was treated successfully with interfero...

Bovine papillomavirus type 1 replication was previously shown to require both the E1 initiator protein and the E2 transactivator protein. We show here that E1, in the absence of E2, is sufficient for low-level bovine papillomavirus type 1 DNA replication in C-33A cells. In addition, studies of genetically isolated E2 point mutants demonstrate that enhancement of replication by E2 does not requi...

The anti-viral T cell response is believed to play a central role in the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection. Since chronic evolution occurs in > 50% of HCV infections, the sequential analysis of the T cell response from the early clinical stages of disease may contribute to define the features of the T cell response associated with recovery or chronic viral persistence. For this purpos...

The recent development of infectious retroviral pseudotypes bearing hepatitis C virus (HCV) glycoproteins represents an opportunity to study the functionally active form of the HCV E1 and E2 glycoproteins. In the culture supernatant of cells producing HCV retroviral pseudotypes, the majority of E2 was not associated with infectious particles and failed to sediment on sucrose gradients. The E2 t...

As a model for the intracellular sorting of Golgi membrane proteins, we are studying the E1 protein of the coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus A59. The wild-type protein, when expressed from synthetic RNA, is localised in the Golgi complex. When the second and third of the three predicted membrane-spanning sequences were deleted from the protein, the resulting mutant was retained in the endoplasm...