Synthesis and assembly of hepatitis B virus surface antigen particles in yeast

Abstract
The surface antigen of hepatitis B virus was synthesized in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by using an expression vector that employs the 5''-flanking region of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase I as a promoter to transcribe surface antigen coding sequences. The protein synthesized in yeast is assembled into particles having properties similar to the 22-nm particles secreted by human cells.