Mempro™ Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) for Virus-like Particles (VLPs)

Creative Biostructure has established an universal virus-like particles (VLPs) platform, Scientists from Creative Biostructure can offer high quality of tailored Mempro™ VLPs derived from Hepatitis B virus (HBV).

VLPs are resemble to viruses without any viral genetic materials and they can’t replicate in the hosts. In general, VLPs enable to self-assemble by expressing viral structural proteins, capsid or envelope for example. Several cell culture systems are used to generate VLPs: mammalian cell lines, yeast and plant cells, insect cell lines and bacteria. Due to the special features of VLPs, they are helpful in the progress of vaccines, virus research, therapeutic and lipoparticle technology.

HBV is one of the members of Orthohepadnavirus, which belongs to the hepadnaviridae family of viruses. The disease hepatitis B is caused by HBV, moreover, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are aroused by the virus too. In addition, HBV is likely to improve the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Figure 1. Three-Dimensional map of the hepatitis B virus core protein shell, represented as a shaded surface. (Nature 1997)

• Genome Structure of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)

The virus particle is composed of an external lipid envelope and an icosahedral nucleocapsid core. The external envelope includes implanted proteins related to viral binding of, entry into and infectious cells. A DNA polymerase and the viral DNA are enclosed in the nucleocapsid, while the DNA polymerase has an alike transcriptase activity to retroviruses. HBV has a virion diameter of 42 nm, it is one of the smallest enveloped animal viruses but existing pleomorphic forms, such as spherical bodies lacking a core and filamentous.

• Infection of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)

As soon as HBV infected cells, the viral DNA was found in the nucleus. In the cell nucleus RNA polymerase II transcribes the viral genes and generates a covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) template. There are two enhancers identified in the HBV genome: enhancer I (EnhI) and enhancer II (EnhII). In addition, both of them show prodigious activity in cells of hepatic origin, and the complete viral transcripts are regulated by the cooperation of them. Usually, HBeAg is swept away early at the zenith of clinical illness, nevertheless, HBsAg and HBV DNA hold in the serum for the duration of clinical symptoms.

With years of experience in VLPs and HBV research, Creative Biostructure can perform world-leading service of VLPs design & production and VLPs characterization of HBV. Please feel free to contact us for a detailed quote.

References:
Hassan M M, Li D, El-Deeb A S, et al. Association between hepatitis B virus and pancreatic cancer[J]. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008, 26(28): 4557-4562.
Schwalbe M, Ohlenschläger O, Marchanka A, et al. Solution structure of stem-loop α of the hepatitis B virus post-transcriptional regulatory element[J]. Nucleic acids research, 2008, 36(5): 1681-1689.
Dupinay T, Gheit T, Roques P, et al. Discovery of naturally occurring transmissible chronic hepatitis B virus infection among Macaca fascicularis from Mauritius Island[J]. Hepatology, 2013, 58(5): 1610-1620.