title: Hepatitis B polypeptide vaccine preparation in micelle form.
abstract: The immunoprophylaxis of hepatitis B is hampered by the lack of a technique for growing hepatitis B virus (HBV) in tissue culture. Plasma from persistently infected individuals, one source of viral antigen, contains characteristic 22-nm spherical particles which share a common antigen (the hepatitis B surface antigen or HBsAg) with the outer envelope of the 42-nm double-shelled DNA virus. Highly purified inactivated 22-nm particles have been shown to be safe and to confer protective immunity against HBV in a recent large-scale clinical trial. We have already described the extraction from the particles of a complex of two proteins which are antigenic determinants of HBV--the polypeptide with molecular weight (MW) between 22,000 and 24,000 (called p23) and the glycosylated polypeptide (called gp28) with MW in the range 26,000--29,000 which is thought to be the glycosylated form of p23. We now report the preparation from this complex of water-soluble protein micelles which may be a suitable basis for a second-generation hepatitis B vaccine.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D000939:Epitopes / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008823:Micelles; D010455:Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010949:Plasma / Q000032:analysis; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D014612:Vaccines / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D008823:Micelles; D010455:Peptides; D014612:Vaccines; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols