title: delta Agent: association of delta antigen with hepatitis B surface antigen and RNA in serum of delta-infected chimpanzees.
abstract: The hepatitis B virus-associated beta antigen was found in the serum of experimentally infected chimpanzee as an internal component of a discrete subpopulation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) particles. The 35- to 37-nm particles banded in CsCl at 1.24-1.25 g/cm3 and sedimented with a mobility intermediate between that of the hepatitis B virion and that of the 22-nm form of HBsAg. The particles contained only indistinct internal structure by electron microscopy and were not unique to delta agent infection, similar particles without delta-antigen activity being observed in the preinfection serum of HBsAg carrier chimpanzees. A small RNA (Mr, 5 X 10(5)) was temporally associated with delta antigen in the serum of infected chimpanzees and copurified with the delta-antigen-associated particles. This RNA is smaller than the genomes of known RNA viruses but larger than the viroids of higher plants.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000378:metabolism*; D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens; D008970:Molecular Weight; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006511:Hepatitis B Antigens; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D035923:Hepatitis delta Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral