Expression of the hepatitis B surface antigen gene containing the preS2 region in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We constructed a plasmid, pBH103-ME5, in which the region encoding the 10 preS2 amino acid residues and the S domain of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were regulated by the promoter of the yeast repressible acid phosphatase gene. Saccharomyces cerevisiae carrying pBH103-ME5 produced the HBs antigen (yHBsAg), when it was cultured in a medium containing a low concentration of phosphate. The antigen was purified to homogeneity. Its molecular weight was determined by Western blotting to be 24,000, and its amino acid composition agreed well with that deduced from the nucleotide sequence. The C-terminal amino acid sequence of yHBsAg was exactly the same as that predicted from the nucleotide sequence, while the N-terminal amino acid acetylserine, which was followed by 8 amino acid residues coded by the preS2 region. These results indicate that the recombinant yeast produced a single polypeptide consisting of the preS2 region and the subsequent S domain after being processed at the N-terminus.