Insertions in the hepatitis B surface antigen: Effect on assembly and secretion of 22-nm particles from mammalian cells

The envelope protein of hepatitis B virus carrying the surface antigen, HBsAg, has the unique property of mobilizing cellular lipids into spherical or elongated particles, about 22 nm in diameter, which are secreted from mammalian cells. We have created mutant envelope proteins by insertion of various sequences of different lengths into two regions of the S gene encoding the major envelope protein. S genes carrying inserts in phase with HBsAg were expressed in mouse L cells from the simian virus 40 early promoter. Various single or double inserts in the two major hydrophilic domains of HBsAg were compatible with secretion of 22-nm particles. In all mutant envelope proteins studied, the HbsAg domains required for intracellular aggregation appeared to be intact. However, assembly into particles was not sufficient to assure transport into the extracellular space. The 22-nm HBsAg particle may be a useful vehicle for the export and presentation of foreign peptide sequences.