Benzophenone-containing fatty acids and their related photosensitive fluorescent new probes: design, physico-chemical properties and preliminary functional investigations.

Hydrophobic photoaffinity labeling is a powerful strategy to identify hydrophobic segments within molecules, in particular membrane proteins. Here we report the design and synthesis of a novel family of fluorescent and photosensitive lipid tools, which have a common amino acid scaffold functionalized by three groups: (i) a first fatty acid chain grafted with a photoactivatable benzophenone moiety (Fatty Acid BenzoPhenone, FABP), (ii) a second fatty acid chain to ensure anchoring into a half-bilayer or hydrophobic environment, and (iii) a fluorescent carboxytetramethylrhodamine headgroup (CTMR) to detect the photolabeled compound. We present data of the synthesis and characterization of three lipid tools whose benzophenone ring is situated at various distances from the central scaffold.

Characterization of hepatitis C virus pseudoparticles by cryo-transmission electron microscopy using functionalized magnetic nanobeads.

Cell entry and membrane fusion of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) depend on its envelope glycoproteins E1 and E2. HCV pseudotyped particles (HCVpps) are relevant and popular models to study the early steps of the HCV life cycle. However, no structural characterization of HCVpp has been available so far.

Bioinformatic analysis of the hepadnavirus e-antigen and its precursor identifies remarkable sequence conservation in all orthohepadnaviruses.

The hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg) is a non-particulate secretory protein expressed by all viruses within the family Hepadnaviridae. It is not essential for viral assembly or replication but is important for establishment of persistent infection in vivo. Although the exact mechanism(s) by which the HBeAg manifests chronicity are unclear, the HBeAg elicits both humoral and cell-mediated immunity, down-regulates the innate immune response to infection, as well as functioning as a T cell tolerogen and regulating the immune response to the intracellular nucleocapsid.

The hepatitis C virus and its hepatic environment: a toxic but finely tuned partnership.

Twenty years after its discovery, HCV (hepatitis C virus) still infects 170 million people worldwide and cannot be properly treated due to the lack of efficient medication. Its life cycle must be better understood to develop targeted pharmacological arsenals. HCV is an enveloped virus bearing two surface glycoproteins, E1 and E2.