森林脑炎病毒E蛋白研究的进展

Progress in studies on protein E of tick borne encephalitis virus

森林脑炎（ｔｉｃｋ－ｂｏｒｎｅｅｎｃｅｐｈａｌｉｔｉｓ，ＴＢＥ）病毒含有单链正股ＲＮＡ、３个结构蛋白即衣壳蛋白（Ｃ）、膜蛋白（Ｍ）、包膜蛋白（Ｅ）和７个非结构蛋白。在３个结构蛋白中，Ｅ蛋白是病毒最重要的结构蛋白，决定着病毒的组织的嗜性，介导病毒与细胞膜受体的结合，诱导保护性的免疫反应。Ｅ蛋白内单个氨基酸的改变可导致病毒的组织嗜性、病毒的毒力、血凝活性和融合活性的改变。因此，对ＴＢＥ病毒Ｅ蛋白结构和功能的研究有助于了解病毒与宿主细胞相互作用、病毒致病性以及病毒毒力改变的机理，从而为病毒感染的特异性诊断。

Tick borne encephalitis(TBE) virus is composed of an isometric capsid surrounded by a lipid envelope with two membrane associated proteins. One of these, protein E is of paramount importance for several important viral functions, especially during the entry phase of the viral life cycle. Protein E is also responsible for the induction of protective immune response. Protein E has also been shown to be an important determinant of virulence, with single amino acid substitution at selected sites leading to attenuation.