Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1993 Jun;31(6):1586–1591. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.6.1586-1591.1993

Identification of four epitopes in hepatitis C virus core protein.

P Ferroni 1, G Mascolo 1, M Zaninetti 1, D Colzani 1, F Pregliasco 1, M Pirisi 1, F Barbone 1, V Gasparini 1
PMCID: PMC265582  PMID: 7686184

Abstract

We identified four epitopes in hepatitis C virus core protein by using the algorithm of Jameson and Wolf. G15V (amino acids [aa] 31 to 45) appears to be the immunodominant epitope, since it was able to detect antibodies to the core protein in all 40 patients and in 44 of 45 recombinant immunoblot assay-confirmed positive blood donors. This epitope is associated with a low frequency of false-positive results, as found with 522 negative blood donors. A strong reactivity was also observed with the Q15V epitope (aa 7 to 21), although this was associated with low specificity. Occasional reactivity to the R15P (aa 49 to 63) and P15R (aa 99 to 113) epitopes was observed. Q15V and G15V detected antibodies to core protein earlier than the other two epitopes.

Full text

PDF
1586

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alter H. J., Purcell R. H., Shih J. W., Melpolder J. C., Houghton M., Choo Q. L., Kuo G. Detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus in prospectively followed transfusion recipients with acute and chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 1989 Nov 30;321(22):1494–1500. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198911303212202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bradley D. W., Cook E. H., Maynard J. E., McCaustland K. A., Ebert J. W., Dolana G. H., Petzel R. A., Kantor R. J., Heilbrunn A., Fields H. A. Experimental infection of chimpanzees with antihemophilic (factor VIII) materials: recovery of virus-like particles associated with non-A, non-B hepatitis. J Med Virol. 1979;3(4):253–269. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890030403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chiba J., Ohba H., Matsuura Y., Watanabe Y., Katayama T., Kikuchi S., Saito I., Miyamura T. Serodiagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with an HCV core protein molecularly expressed by a recombinant baculovirus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 1;88(11):4641–4645. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.11.4641. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Choo Q. L., Kuo G., Weiner A. J., Overby L. R., Bradley D. W., Houghton M. Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome. Science. 1989 Apr 21;244(4902):359–362. doi: 10.1126/science.2523562. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Choo Q. L., Richman K. H., Han J. H., Berger K., Lee C., Dong C., Gallegos C., Coit D., Medina-Selby R., Barr P. J. Genetic organization and diversity of the hepatitis C virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Mar 15;88(6):2451–2455. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.6.2451. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chou P. Y., Fasman G. D. Conformational parameters for amino acids in helical, beta-sheet, and random coil regions calculated from proteins. Biochemistry. 1974 Jan 15;13(2):211–222. doi: 10.1021/bi00699a001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Emini E. A., Hughes J. V., Perlow D. S., Boger J. Induction of hepatitis A virus-neutralizing antibody by a virus-specific synthetic peptide. J Virol. 1985 Sep;55(3):836–839. doi: 10.1128/jvi.55.3.836-839.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Esteban J. I., González A., Hernández J. M., Viladomiu L., Sánchez C., López-Talavera J. C., Lucea D., Martin-Vega C., Vidal X., Esteban R. Evaluation of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in a study of transfusion-associated hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 1990 Oct 18;323(16):1107–1112. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199010183231605. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Garnier J., Osguthorpe D. J., Robson B. Analysis of the accuracy and implications of simple methods for predicting the secondary structure of globular proteins. J Mol Biol. 1978 Mar 25;120(1):97–120. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90297-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gray J. J., Wreghitt T. G., Friend P. J., Wight D. G., Sundaresan V., Calne R. Y. Differentiation between specific and non-specific hepatitis C antibodies in chronic liver disease. Lancet. 1990 Mar 10;335(8689):609–610. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)90398-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Harada S., Watanabe Y., Takeuchi K., Suzuki T., Katayama T., Takebe Y., Saito I., Miyamura T. Expression of processed core protein of hepatitis C virus in mammalian cells. J Virol. 1991 Jun;65(6):3015–3021. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.6.3015-3021.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hopp T. P., Woods K. R. Prediction of protein antigenic determinants from amino acid sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jun;78(6):3824–3828. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.6.3824. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hosein B., Fang C. T., Popovsky M. A., Ye J., Zhang M., Wang C. Y. Improved serodiagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection with synthetic peptide antigen from capsid protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 May 1;88(9):3647–3651. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.9.3647. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Janin J., Wodak S. Conformation of amino acid side-chains in proteins. J Mol Biol. 1978 Nov 5;125(3):357–386. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90408-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kaiser E., Colescott R. L., Bossinger C. D., Cook P. I. Color test for detection of free terminal amino groups in the solid-phase synthesis of peptides. Anal Biochem. 1970 Apr;34(2):595–598. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(70)90146-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kato N., Hijikata M., Ootsuyama Y., Nakagawa M., Ohkoshi S., Sugimura T., Shimotohno K. Molecular cloning of the human hepatitis C virus genome from Japanese patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec;87(24):9524–9528. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.24.9524. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kuo G., Choo Q. L., Alter H. J., Gitnick G. L., Redeker A. G., Purcell R. H., Miyamura T., Dienstag J. L., Alter M. J., Stevens C. E. An assay for circulating antibodies to a major etiologic virus of human non-A, non-B hepatitis. Science. 1989 Apr 21;244(4902):362–364. doi: 10.1126/science.2496467. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Linnet K. Two-stage transformation systems for normalization of reference distributions evaluated. Clin Chem. 1987 Mar;33(3):381–386. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McFarlane I. G., Smith H. M., Johnson P. J., Bray G. P., Vergani D., Williams R. Hepatitis C virus antibodies in chronic active hepatitis: pathogenetic factor or false-positive result? Lancet. 1990 Mar 31;335(8692):754–757. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(90)90870-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Miyamura T., Saito I., Katayama T., Kikuchi S., Tateda A., Houghton M., Choo Q. L., Kuo G. Detection of antibody against antigen expressed by molecularly cloned hepatitis C virus cDNA: application to diagnosis and blood screening for posttransfusion hepatitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Feb;87(3):983–987. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.3.983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Muraiso K., Hijikata M., Ohkoshi S., Cho M. J., Kikuchi M., Kato N., Shimotohno K. A structural protein of hepatitis C virus expressed in E. coli facilitates accurate detection of hepatitis C virus. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1990 Oct 30;172(2):511–516. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(90)90702-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Nasoff M. S., Zebedee S. L., Inchauspé G., Prince A. M. Identification of an immunodominant epitope within the capsid protein of hepatitis C virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 15;88(12):5462–5466. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.12.5462. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Okamoto H., Munekata E., Tsuda F., Takahashi K., Yotsumoto S., Tanaka T., Tachibana K., Akahane Y., Sugai Y., Miyakawa Y. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibodies against the capsid protein of hepatitis C virus with a synthetic oligopeptide. Jpn J Exp Med. 1990 Aug;60(4):223–233. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Okamoto H., Okada S., Sugiyama Y., Kurai K., Iizuka H., Machida A., Miyakawa Y., Mayumi M. Nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of hepatitis C virus isolated from a human carrier: comparison with reported isolates for conserved and divergent regions. J Gen Virol. 1991 Nov;72(Pt 11):2697–2704. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-72-11-2697. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Takamizawa A., Mori C., Fuke I., Manabe S., Murakami S., Fujita J., Onishi E., Andoh T., Yoshida I., Okayama H. Structure and organization of the hepatitis C virus genome isolated from human carriers. J Virol. 1991 Mar;65(3):1105–1113. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.3.1105-1113.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Takeuchi K., Kubo Y., Boonmar S., Watanabe Y., Katayama T., Choo Q. L., Kuo G., Houghton M., Saito I., Miyamura T. Nucleotide sequence of core and envelope genes of the hepatitis C virus genome derived directly from human healthy carriers. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Aug 11;18(15):4626–4626. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.15.4626. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Takeuchi K., Kubo Y., Boonmar S., Watanabe Y., Katayama T., Choo Q. L., Kuo G., Houghton M., Saito I., Miyamura T. The putative nucleocapsid and envelope protein genes of hepatitis C virus determined by comparison of the nucleotide sequences of two isolates derived from an experimentally infected chimpanzee and healthy human carriers. J Gen Virol. 1990 Dec;71(Pt 12):3027–3033. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-71-12-3027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Wolf H., Modrow S., Motz M., Jameson B. A., Hermann G., Förtsch B. An integrated family of amino acid sequence analysis programs. Comput Appl Biosci. 1988 Mar;4(1):187–191. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/4.1.187. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Yatsuhashi H., Inoue O., Koga M., Nagataki S., Mizuno K., Kolberg J., Beall E., Cha T. A., Irvine B., Kuo G. Comparison of hepatitis C virus markers in patients with NANB hepatitis. J Virol Methods. 1992 Apr;37(1):13–21. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(92)90017-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES