Result: In lysates,
HBsAg levels were slightly lower for expression vectors containing the
M103I and
K122R mutations compared to wild-type (Figures 1B,D).
Discussion: Although the
K122R mutation results in a serotype change from 'd' to 'y', both
K122R and
M103I may have minor effects with respect to protein folding, antigenicity, detection by anti-
HBs, and protein expression, due to their location within the antigenic determinant region of
HBsAg.
Discussion: First, the specific mutations assessed in this study -
M103I,
K122R, and
G145A - had not been included in previous functional analyses of