title: Assessment of synthetic chimeric multiple antigenic peptides for diagnosis of GB virus C infection.
abstract: The use of synthetic peptides of both structural and nonstructural proteins of GB virus C (GBV-C) has been studied for the development of new systems to diagnose infection caused by this virus. In an attempt to increase the antigenicity of linear peptide sequences, chimeric multiple antigenic peptides (MAPs) containing epitopes from E2, NS4, and NS5 GBV-C proteins have been synthesized. The synthetic constructs were evaluated by ELISA to establish whether the epitopes in chimeric branched peptides are more efficiently recognized by the specific antibodies compared to the monomeric linear sequences. Moreover, we have investigated the application of a commercial biosensor instrument for the detection of antibodies against the GBV-C in human serum samples. The results of the immunoassays reported in this work highlight the usefulness of synthetic tetrameric branched peptides containing sequences from envelope and nonstructural GBV-C proteins for the diagnosis of GBV-C infection. The potential clinical value of the MAP(4)(E2-NS5a) for the serodiagnosis of GBV-C infection was demonstrated, thus providing the basis for performing prevalence studies of the infection among the hemodialyzed and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected population.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Peptides IQAC-CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gómara
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ercilla
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Haro
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D029407:GB virus C / Q000276:immunology*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D012372:ROC Curve; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D010455:Peptides; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic