Establishment of a cell line constitutively expressing E2 glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus and humoral response of hepatitis C patients to the expressed protein.
A Chinese hamster ovary cell line was established which abundantly expresses the second envelope protein (E2) of hepatitis C virus under the control of an exogenous promoter. The expressed E2 protein was found to be a glycoprotein of 58 kDa by immunoprecipitation with sera from patients that had chronic hepatitis C. Using this cell line as antigen in immunofluorescence tests, as high as 93% of patients with non-A non-B hepatitis had antibodies against E2 protein. In Western blots using SDS-denatured E2 protein, however, the detectability of the antibody was drastically reduced to 30%. Immunoprecipitation assays and ELISA, using both native and denatured E2 protein, revealed that antibodies to E2 protein were present in most of the chronic hepatitis C patients and that they reacted only to the native forms.
Harada
S
S
Department of Medical Entomology, National Institute of Health, Tokyo, Japan.
Suzuki
R
R
Ando
A
A
Watanabe
Y
Y
Yagi
S
S
Miyamura
T
T
Saito
I
I
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016466:CHO Cells; D006224:Cricetinae; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins