近日，上海科技大学饶子和等研究人员合作揭示乙型肝炎病毒亚病毒颗粒的固有对称性与柔性。2024年9月13日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

通过利用广泛的数据集和先进的冷冻电子显微镜分析，研究人员揭示了乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）表面抗原（HBsAg）的结构，分辨率接近原子级别，为3.7埃。HBsAg同源二聚体以D₂和D₄类准对称性组装成亚病毒颗粒，阐明了HBsAg的紧密包装规则及结构适应性。这些发现提供了关于HBsAg如何组装成更高阶的丝状结构并与衣壳相互作用形成病毒颗粒的见解。

研究人员表示，慢性HBV感染是全球重大健康挑战，导致大量发病和死亡。尽管有预防性疫苗，但现有治疗方法对病毒的清除效果有限，需终身治疗。HBsAg在诊断和预后中起关键作用，然而其高分辨率结构及在病毒包膜上的组装机制仍不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Inherent symmetry and flexibility in hepatitis B virus subviral particles

Author: Quan Wang, Tao Wang, Lin Cao, An Mu, Sheng Fu, Peipei Wang, Yan Gao, Wenxin Ji, Zhenyu Liu, Zhanqiang Du, Luke W. Guddat, Wenchi Zhang, Shuang Li, Xuemei Li, Zhiyong Lou, Xiangxi Wang, Zhongyu Hu, Zihe Rao

Issue&Volume: 2024-09-13

Abstract: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection poses a major global health challenge with massive morbidity and mortality. Despite a preventive vaccine, current treatments provide limited virus clearance, necessitating lifelong commitment. The HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) is crucial for diagnosis and prognosis, yet its high-resolution structure and assembly on the virus envelope remain elusive. Utilizing extensive datasets and advanced cryo–electron microscopy analysis, we present structural insights into HBsAg at a near-atomic resolution of 3.7 angstroms. HBsAg homodimers assemble into subviral particles with D2- and D4-like quasisymmetry, elucidating the dense-packing rules and structural adaptability of HBsAg. These findings provide insights into how HBsAg assembles into higher-order filaments and interacts with the capsid to form virions.

DOI: adp1453

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp1453