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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Surface Functionalization of Hepatitis E Virus Nanoparticles Using Chemical Conjugation Methods
Published on: May 11, 2018
Interaction of synthetic peptides corresponding to hepatitis G virus (HGV/GBV-C) E2 structural protein with
Cristina Larios1, Bart Christiaens, M José Gómara
1Department of Peptide and Protein Chemistry, IIQAB-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
The interaction with phospholipid bilayers of two synthetic peptides with sequences corresponding to a segment next to the native N-terminus and an internal region of the E2 structural hepatitis G virus (HGV/GBV-C) protein [E2(7-26) and E2(279-298), respectively] has been characterized. Both peptides are water soluble but associate spontaneously with bilayers, showing higher affinity for anionic than zwitterionic membranes. However, whereas the E2(7-26) peptide is hardly transferred at all from water to the membrane interface, the E2(279-298) peptide is able to penetrate into negatively charged bilayers remaining close to the lipid/water interface. The nonpolar environment clearly induces a structural transition in the E2(279-298) peptide from random coil to alpha-helix, which causes bilayer perturbations leading to vesicle permeabilization. The results indicate that this internal segment peptide sequence is involved in the fusion of HGV/GBV-C to membrane.
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