RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Metzger, Karin A1 Bringas, RicardoYR 1998 T1 Proline-138 is essential for the assembly of hepatitis B virus core protein. JF Journal of General Virology, VO 79 IS 3 SP 587 OP 590 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-79-3-587 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB In small RNA viruses, arm-like segments located at the N or C termini have been suggested as mediators in the assembly of the capsid proteins. In many cases the arms of several subunits converge at a common point (the symmetry axis). Recent advances in studies of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein attest the convergence of the segments preceding the protamine region, around the symmetry axis, where five or six HBc protein subunits converge. We report a mutation study of the region that we have suggested forms an armlike structure, which reveals that a single mutation, Pro →138 Gly, prevents the full-length HBV core protein self-assembling into particles., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-79-3-587