Fig. 6.

Identification of HCV epitope by mutation analysis. (A) Mutation of epitope II. Amino acid sequences for peptide B and its mutation (B mutant) are presented. The mutation site is underlined. (B) Detection of antibody binding by ELISA. A total of 100 ng of biotin-conjugated peptide B and its mutant (B mutant) were added to streptavidin-coated 96-well plates in an ELISA. The x axis indicates antibodies that were used in this assay. HCIGIV at 1:800 dilution was used as the positive control, and albumin (5%) at 1:800 dilution was used as the negative control. 341C, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes the sequence NAPATV, was used at 1:200 dilution. The y axis indicates absorbance at 450 nm, representing specific binding of a given antibody to each individual peptide.