Expression of hepatitis C virus structural proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Expression in yeast may prove more amenable togenerating large amounts of viral antigens for a vaccinecandidate. We, therefore, cloned the gene encoding theHepatitis C virus (HCV) structural proteins (C-E1-E2, c740)fused in-frame with, and immediately 3' to, the chickenlysozymesignal peptide (C-SIG) gene and under the controlof the yeast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genepromoter. In yeast, the HCV structural proteins were expressedin two different forms: a processed and a nonprocessedaggregated form. Biophysical characterization by sucroselinear gradient centrifugation revealed that both forms werepresent in the same fractions with a buoyant density of1.127-1.176 g/cm3. These findings suggest that the efficientsynthesis of HCV structural proteins in yeast may be animportant tool to study virus assembly and may lead to thedevelopment of an HCV vaccine. KCI Citation Count: 8