Figure 2

Determination of regions within gB that display a high propensity to interact with the lipid surface of cell membranes by using Wimley-White Interfacial Hydrophobicity Scale (WWIHS). WWIHS identifies segments of proteins that prefer a transbilayer helix conformation to an unfolded interfacial location. We used the Interface Scale of the Membrane Protein explorer (MpeX version 3.0) computer program to identify these particular segments of HCMV gB. The Interface scale measures a residue's free energy of transfer within an unfolded polypeptide chain from water to a phosphocholine bilayer. We identified nine segments of HCMV gB that display high propensity to interact with the lipid surface of cell membrane, and designed peptides, ranging from 19 to 31 amino acids in length, that are analogous to the identified regions of gB.