The secretory core protein of human hepatitis B virus is expressed on the cell surface

Human hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes acute and chronic liver disease, which can result in tumor formation. An as yet unexplained phenomenon is that virus elimination usually correlates with the development of antibodies directed against the HBeAg, a secretory HBV core gene product which can be detected in the serum of infected patients. Expression of HBeAg in a human hepatoma cell line by using recombinant vaccinia viruses revealed that the HBeAg is not only secreted from HBeAg-producing cells but also incorporated into the outer cell membrane. No membrane-expressed core gene product could be detected when the cytoplasmic core protein (HBcAg) was expressed. Immune sera from patients who developed anti-HBe antibodies efficiently recognized the membrane-bound HBeAg, suggesting that surface-expressed HBeAg can serve as a target for an antibody-mediated elimination of HBV-infected cells.