How a virus assembles – Researchers at UD use supercomputer to gain insights into hepatitis B

Researchers at the University of Delaware, using supercomputing resources and collaborating with scientists at Indiana University, have gained new understanding of the virus that causes hepatitis B and the “spiky ball” that encloses the virus’s genetic blueprint.

The research, which has been published online, ahead of print, by the American Chemical Association journal ACS Chemical Biology, provides insights into how the capsid — a protein shell that protects the blueprint and also drives the delivery of it to infect a host cell — assembles itself.

Computer simulations performed by the UD scientists investigated the effects of a mutation that impairs the assembly process. Together with collaborators, the researchers revealed that the region of the protein that contains the mutation, the spike, can communicate with the region of the protein that links with other subunits to assemble the capsid. They found evidence that a change in the shape of the capsid protein switches it into an "on" state for assembly.

Scientists believe that the capsid is an important target in developing drugs to treat hepatitis B, a life-threatening and incurable infection that afflicts more than 250 million people worldwide.

Read the full story from the University of Delaware Daily here.