title: Identification of immunodominant epitopes in the core and non-structural region of hepatitis C virus by enzyme immunoassay using synthetic peptides.
abstract: Thirty-two synthetic peptides, components of the core and non-structural protein of Hepatitis C virus (HCV), were tested for their reactivities against antibodies in sera of healthy, HCV antibody positive of chronic liver disease patients. Among them, 8 of the core peptides, 4 of the NS4 peptides and 3 of the NS5 peptides reacted with the HCV infected sera. In particular, C22 (core peptide) and NS4-1924 (NS4 peptide) were most reactive with the serum samples giving a positive signal with commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Our results indicate that the immunodominant regions of the HCV-derived proteins are located at three regions in the core protein, three regions in the NS4 protein, and one region in the NS5 protein. These results indicate that the selected peptides are useful antigens in detecting antibodies in the sera from individuals infected with HCV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Yusung-gu, Taejon.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D006801:Humans; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000032:analysis*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C093542:NS4 protein, hepatitis C virus; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase