title: A hyperimmune serum against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the hypervariable region 1 of hepatitis C virus can prevent viral infection in cell cultures.
abstract: To investigate whether a principal neutralization epitope exists in hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) within the putative envelope of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we generated a hyperimmune rabbit serum against a synthetic peptide corresponding to HVR1 of HCV isolate H77. The reactivity of the serum in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was correlated with the 13 amino acids (position 398-410) in HVR1. The serum prevented infection with H77 virus in cell cultures but did not prevent infection with H90 virus, a genetically divergent isolate from the same patient. The study demonstrated that neutralization of HCV was mediated, in part, by isolate-specific antibody recognizing HVR1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatitis Viruses (SKBB), Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiyohara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cabezon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Farci
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Purcell
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikura
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D014764:Viral Proteins