Can the liver be induced to say no?

✍ Scribed by John W. Wiley

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 324 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840170634

✦ Synopsis

the gradient on the basis of the degree of in vivo antibody coating and aggregation.

The authors also concentrated enough core particles to analyze the HCV native nucleocapsid protein on SDS-PAGE and ELISA. The molecular weight of the core protein was determined to be approximately 26,000 Da (p26). The native core antigen polypeptide occurring in the circulation of an infected host appeared signifi- cantly larger than that predicted from residues 1 through 191 of the putative HCV core gene translational product. This could be due to a different cleavage site in vzvo than that predicted or to a posttranslational modification. To address this disparity and to speculate on its biological significance will require the isolation of larger quantities of native particles and their associated proteins.

This study provides our first confident glimpse at the long-sought particle associated with NANB/HCV infection. Although the quality of the EM picture is not optimal and although evidence for the positive identification of the HCV virion is only partial, considering the low concentration of viral particles in the circulation, this study is a monumental achievement. With this breakthrough in hand, progress toward final characterization of the HCV virion should be rapid.