title: Identification of humoral antigenic determinants in the hepatitis C virus NS3 protein.
abstract: Immunoblot analysis on serum samples from 90 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection revealed four putative immunogenic regions within the NS3 protein of the virus: E (around aa 1250/ 1251), A (within aa 1250-1334), A/B (around aa 1323 and 1334), and B/C (around aa 1407 and 1412). Among them, region E was most immunodominant, and region A was recognized much less frequently by patients with cirrhosis than by those with chronic hepatitis (10% vs. 46%, chi 2 = 12.05, P < .01). The results suggest that region A might be a potential prognostic marker to differentiate chronic hepatitis from cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, ROC.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chian
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D000939:Epitopes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D010957:Plasmids / Q000276:immunology; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C084422:NS3 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases