Ct. Yeh et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF NUCLEAR-LOCALIZATION OF A HEPATITIS-B VIRUS PRECORE PROTEIN DERIVATIVE P22, Archives of virology, 141(3-4), 1996, pp. 425-438
Both of hepatitis B virus core protein and a precore protein derivativ
e, named P22, have been shown to localize in the nucleus. Although P22
has ten additional amino acid residues at its amino-terminus, both pr
oteins contain the same nuclear localization signal. In order to under
stand the mechanism that regulates the activity of this signal, we hav
e studied the nuclear localization of P22 and compared it with that of
core protein. It was found that both cytosolic and nuclear fractions
of P22 were phosphorylated but to a lesser extent when compared with c
ytosolic core protein. This distinction was likely attributed to diffe
rent conformations between these two proteins since the density gradie
nt analysis revealed a different particle formation for P22 in the cyt
osol. When expressed in Vero cells synchronized by serum deprivation,
P22 remained in the cytosol during GO and G1 phases, accumulated gradu
ally in the nucleus during S phase, and largely localized in the nucle
us when cells were confluent. On the other hand, the core protein was
transported into the nucleus during mid-G1 phase, shuttled back to the
cytosol in S phase and again accumulated in the nucleus when cells we
re confluent. Interestingly, when aphidicolin was used to arrest the c
ells in late G1 phase, both proteins were found to accumulate in the n
uclei. These results indicated that although both P22 and core protein
s possessed the same nuclear localization signal, the cellular regulat
ion of their nuclear transport was not identical and might involve dif
ferent molecular mechanisms.