Fig. 2.
Heat-labile components in human serum promote the binding of HCV to B cells. Ten million genomic copies of HCV 1a (H77s) in 3 ml medium were incubated with 100 µl serum sample or heat-inactivated serum sample (56°C for 30 min) at room temperature for 1 h, followed by mixing with 2 ml PBMCs (2.5×107 cells/ml) in complete RPMI medium. The reaction was carried out at room temperature (25°C) for 1 h. The cells then were processed for HCV quantification as described in Methods section. Each value represents the mean ± SD of 9 determinations. The experiments were repeated twice with similar results using PBMCs from two different donors.