Plasmid-directed synthesis of hepatitis B surface antigen in monkey cells

We introduced the gene encoding the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) into simian virus 40 (SV40)-based plasmids capable of autonomously replicating in both Escherichia coli and permissive monkey cells. After introduction into monkey cells by transfection, these plasmids directed the synthesis of high levels of HBsAg, as determined by immunofluorescence, radioimmunoassays, and identification by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the polypeptides comprising the antigen. Expression was dependent upon the presence of an SV40 promoter, with both the early and late promoters able to effectively initiate transcription. Using expression of HBsAg to assay promoter function, we demonstrated that an intact copy of the SV40 72-base pair repeat, which constitutes an essential element of the SV40 early promoter during the lytic SV40 cycle and which can enhance the transcriptional activity of heterologous promoters, was not required for HBsAg expression, suggesting that the hepatitis genome contains an enhancer element capable of complementing that provided by the 72-base pair repeat element of SV40. The antigen appears to be glycosylated after synthesis in transfected cells and is apparently secreted, as evidenced by the localization of [35S]cysteine-labeled antigen to the medium of transfected cultures. Using constructions in which the first ATG sequence appearing in HBsAg mRNA was that corresponding to the gene encoding the mature form of the antigen, we demonstrated that these post-translational events could occur without the involvement of a putative precursor peptide suggested by the DNA sequence of the viral genome. In view of the inability of hepatitis B virus to propagate in vitro, this strategy offers a convenient approach for further characterizing the biosynthesis of this antigen and may provide a means to identify additional polypeptides encoded by this virus.