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

The surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) has been 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.