title: Use of a TT virus ORF1 recombinant protein to detect anti-TT virus antibodies in human sera.
abstract: TT virus (TTV), isolated initially from a Japanese patient with hepatitis of unknown aetiology, has since been found to infect both healthy and diseased individuals and numerous prevalence studies have raised questions about its role in unexplained hepatitis. In order to determine the prevalence of ongoing TTV infection as well as resolved infection, a serological study was performed with a recombinant protein generated from the open reading frame 1 (ORF1) sequence isolated from a French patient infected by TTV. The C-terminal end of the ORF1 protein, containing a particularly hydrophilic region, was retained to be used as antigen to detect the presence of anti-TTV antibodies in serum samples by a Western blot analysis. For this purpose, the C-terminal ORF1 region was expressed in fusion with a hexahistidine tail in E. coli and purified by metal-chelate affinity chromatography. The serological screening of 70 human sera, including 30 patients with hepatitis of unknown aetiology, 30 blood donors and 10 healthy children, allowed the immune response of infected hosts to be identified by the detection of TTV-specific antibodies, with a very high prevalence of 98.6% in the human sera tested. In contrast, TTV DNA was detected by PCR in only 76.1% of the tested sera. The use of the ORF1 C-terminal recombinant protein thereby provided a diagnostic tool to follow the immune response of the host against TTV.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 2142 CNRS-bioMérieux, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France1.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biométrie Génétique et Biologie des Populations, UMR CNRS 5558, Université Claude Bernard-Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France2.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duret
authors.affiliation: INSERM Unité 271, 151 Cours Albert Thomas, 69424 Lyon Cedex 03, France3.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chemin
authors.affiliation: INSERM Unité 271, 151 Cours Albert Thomas, 69424 Lyon Cedex 03, France3.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trépo
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 2142 CNRS-bioMérieux, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France1.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mandrand
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 2142 CNRS-bioMérieux, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France1.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Komurian-Pradel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005602:France; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012521:Sarcosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014766:Viremia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D007106:Immune Sera; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C025231:sarkosyl; D012521:Sarcosine