title: Characterization of antibody response to hepatitis C virus protein E2 and significance of hypervariable region 1-specific antibodies in viral neutralization.
abstract: Antibodies directed against hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) within the viral glycoprotein E2 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) are postulated to neutralize virus. An in vitro infection/binding assay of human fibroblast cells was established in order to study neutralization of HCV. Occurrence of mutations in the nucleotide sequence of HVR1 as compared to the inoculum after infection of human fibroblasts suggested replication of HCV in these cells. The significance of HVR1-specific antibodies in sera of patients who were infected in a single-source outbreak by an HCV contaminated anti-D immunoglobulin (IgG) preparation was studied. Using immunoprecipitation and ELISA, HVR1-specific antibodies could be detected in most of the sera obtained early (< or = 1 year p.i.) and late (up to 14 years p.i.) in single patients. Further characterization of the HVR1-specific antibodies in patient sera by attachment studies of HCV to the human fibroblasts suggested that HVR1-specific antibodies in sera obtained early p.i. can neutralize virus of the anti-D IgG preparation.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Virologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zibert
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dudziak
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schreier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roggendorf
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005347:Fibroblasts; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus