Dissociation of tick-borne encephalitis virus by Triton X-100 and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

The uses of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 (TX-100) and the cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for the production of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus subunits were compared. TX-100 splitted the virus into haemagglutinating envelope components which contain the virion proteins V3 and V1 and into a lipid-free nucleoprotein composed of RNA and V2. The lipid content of the released envelope fragments decreased with increasing detergent concentration. By the use of CTAB, the viral glycoprotein V3 could be prepared in electrophoretically pure and active, i.e. haemagglutinating form.