# STRUCTURE OF HEPATITIS B ANTIGENS

> **NIH NIH R01** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 1992 · $118,652

## Abstract

The first goal of this project is to determine the structures of the
surface proteins of the hepatitis B virus, referred to as the hepatitis B
surface antigen (HBsAg), and to determine the relationship between their
structures and functions both as essential viral proteins and as the
important host targets for prevention of the viral disease.  HBsAg is
produced in large amounts during the normal course of HBV infection, a
fact which has been extensively exploited: HBsAg serves as the basis for
the diagnosis of HBV infection and also as the current vaccine against
HBV.  HBsAg consists of a "nested" set of three proteins, referred to as
the S, M, and L proteins, each of which occurs in two forms due to
further post-translational modifications.  The structure of these will be
determined following isolation of the protein from naturally infected
human plasma, or following expression of the relevant protein by cloned
viral DNA in eukaryotic or prokaryotic expression vectors, using a
combination of physical (circular dichroism, FTIR, mass spectrometry,
ultracentrifugation), chemical (Edman degradation, carboxypeptidase
digestion, reduction and alkylation), and immunological (monoclonal
antibody binding studies, studies of immunogenicity) techniques.  The
function of each of these proteins as binding proteins to cell receptors
and polymerized albumin will be examined.  The antigenic activity of
these proteins will be examined by site specific mutagenesis, chemical
modification, use of anti- synthetic peptide and monoclonal antibodies.
   The second goal of this project will be to utilize the information
gained from the above studies to identify specific antigenic domains of
the surface proteins (S,M, and L) for incorporation into novel chimeric
proteins containing the cholera B toxin subunit for investigation as a
potential oral immunogen against HBV.  This will be done utilizing
synthetic DNA fused to the Cholera B subunit gene, and expression by
appropriate prokaryotic expression vectors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3126511
- **Project number:** 5R01AI015955-11
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** MLQFL4JSSAA9
- **Principal Investigator:** Darrell L Peterson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $118,652
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1991-06-01 → 1996-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3126511

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3126511, STRUCTURE OF HEPATITIS B ANTIGENS (5R01AI015955-11). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3126511. Licensed CC0.

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