Explore the Binding of Hepatitis B Virus Core Protein Peptides with HLA-A2.1 by Molecular Modeling Methods

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a DNA virus affecting about 250 million populations worldwide, especailly in China. Among them, about 1 million people died due to the followed complications caused by HBV, such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [1]. HBV core 18-27 peptide (HBcAg18-27) is a well studied epitope detected in more than 90% patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2.1, helping the CD8+ T-cell reponse to elimiate the virus [2, 3]. The binding between HBcAg18-27 and HLA-A2.1 determines the HLA-class I-restricted CD8+ T-cell response to HBV, which is critical in the disease progress.