Abstract
The genome of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is 7.2 kilobases long and has three open reading frames. The largest one is ORF1, encoding a non-structural protein involved in the replication process, and whose processing is ill-defined. The ORF1 protein is a multi-modular protein which includes a macro domain (MD). MDs are evolutionarily conserved structures throughout all kingdoms of life. MDs participate in the recognition and removal of ADP-ribosylation, and specifically viral MDs have been identified as erasers of ADP-ribose moieties interpreting them as important players at escaping the early stages of host-immune response. A detailed structural analysis of the apo and bound to ADP-ribose state of the native HEV MD would provide the structural information to understand how HEV MD is implicated in virus-host interplay and how it interacts with its intracellular partner during viral replication. In the present study we present the high yield expression of the native macro domain of HEV and its analysis by solution NMR spectroscopy. The HEV MD is folded in solution and we present a nearly complete backbone and sidechains assignment for apo and bound states. In addition, a secondary structure prediction by TALOS + analysis was performed. The results indicated that HEV MD has a α/β/α topology very similar to that of most viral macro domains.