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Journal of Virology, April 2006, p. 4187-4190, Vol. 80, No. 8
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.80.8.4187-4190.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Hepatitis B Virus Particle Formation in the Absence of Pregenomic RNA and Reverse Transcriptase

Wiebke Schormann, Anke Kraft, Dirk Ponsel, and Volker Bruss^*

Department of Virology, University of Göttingen, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany

Received 27 July 2005/ Accepted 3 January 2006

Cytoplasmic hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsids are not enveloped and secreted unless the packaged RNA pregenome is reverse transcribed. The expression of the capsid protein C, together with envelope proteins in the absence of pregenomic RNA, produced normal amounts of intracellular capsids, but the secretion of virion-like particles was greatly reduced. The I97L C protein mutant, allowing immature nucleocapsid envelopment in the background of an HBV genome, did not promote the envelopment of capsids lacking a pregenome, suggesting that this mutation is not sufficient to induce secretion competence independently of the pregenome.

Present address: Center for Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine & Rudolf-Boehm Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, Haertelstr. 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany.

Present address: Department of Virology, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany.

Present address: Institute of Veterinary Medicine, University of Göttingen, Groner Landstr. 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.

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