Fig 2. Expression of the wild-type HBsAg.

(A) Western blotting analysis. HEK293-T cells were transfected with plasmid vectors expressing the wild-type HBsAgs (W1S, W3S and adr4). The expressed HBsAgs were purified from the culture supernatants and the cell lysates 72 h after transfection and an equal volume of each sample was run on SDS-PAGE. An anti-Xpress mAb against the Xpress tag was used to detect each HBsAg. (B) Immunofluorescence assay. Cells on the culture slides were fixed 72 h after transfection and stained with an anti-Xpress mAb as for the Western blot followed by an anti-mouse IgG conjugated with Alexa Fluor 488. Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI. Non-transfected cells were used as a negative control (NC). Each experiment was performed independently three times and one representative result is shown. wt: wild-type.