Abstract
HBV virions are double-shelled particles, 40–42 nm in diameter containing a viral nucleocapsid, or the HBV core which is an ordered assembly of stable homo-dimeric HBV Core protein (Cp). Both the full-length Cp containing 183 residues as well as the first-149 residues fragment, Cp149 can assemble spontaneously in vitro into capsids triggered by high ionic strength (0.2-0.5M NaCl) into 120 Cp dimers in an icosahedral symmetry (T=4) or into 90 Cp dimers with (T=3) icosahedral symmetry. Both the Cp149/Cp183 capsids and their assembly-disassembly is generally studied by Size Exclusion Chromatography, Light Scattering, Electron microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and other high-end labour-intensive techniques.
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