[Changes in biological properties of tick-borne encephalitis virus during cleavage of disulfide bonds in protein E].

The study showed the disruption of disulphide bonds in E protein of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE) to lead to the loss of antigenicity, infectivity, hemagglutinating and protective activities. The loss of infectivity under the effect of a thiolic reagent appears to be associated with block of the very first stage of virus-cell interaction, virus adsorption on the target cell. An attempt to reestablish the E protein structure and the above-mentioned virus properties after the removal of the thiolic reagent failed. The role of tertiary structure of E protein in the manifestation of TBE virus main biological properties is discussed.