Identification of antigenic sites on three hepatitis C virus proteins using phage-displayed peptide libraries

✍ Scribed by Pereboeva, L. A.; Pereboev, A. V.; Morris, G. E.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 489 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199810)56:2<105::aid-jmv1>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

A novel approach to screening phage-displayed peptide libraries has been used to identify hepatitis C virus (HCV) core, NS4 and NS5 sequences, which are antigenic in humans. Two random peptide libraries were used for screening using a mixture of HCV-positive sera or individual antibodies to core, NS3, NS4, and NS5 HCV proteins affinity-purified from this mixture. Sequencing of 56 selected phage clones resulted in 28 different peptide sequences and identification of seven antigenic regions, three in the core protein (19-26, 34-49, and 73-83), three in the NS4 (1681-1693, 1712-1718, and 1726-1736) and one in the NS5 protein (2251)(2252)(2253)(2254)(2255)(2256)(2257)(2258)(2259)(2260). No NS3-specific peptides were identified. The immune response to core, NS4 and NS5 proteins includes a variety of linear determinants whereas epitopes on the investigated part of NS3 protein appear to be conformation-dependant.