Summary
A 1700 base cDNA fragment coding for the putative structural gene(s) of hepatitis E virus (HEV) was inserted into the pATH 10 expression vector. The fusion protein (C2) expressed by this plasmid was found to contain epitopes recognized by anti-HEV antibodies. C 2 protein was used in a Western blot format to examine its usefulness in detecting anti-HEV antibodies in well documented human cases of HEV and non-human primates infected with HEV. Both IgM and IgG anti-HEV could be detected in our Western blot assay. This Western blot assay was found not to detect antibodies from acute-phase sera from patients with either HAV or HBV. The C 2 protein contains broadly cross-reactive epitopes, and the Western blot assay was able to detect anti-HEV antibodies in patient sera from Asia, Africa, and North America. The optimum serum dilution for the detection of both IgM and IgG was 1:25.
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Purdy, M.A., McCaustland, K.A., Krawczynski, K. et al. Expression of a hepatitis E virus (HEV)-trpE fusion protein containing epitopes recognized by antibodies in sera from human cases and experimentally infected primates. Archives of Virology 123, 335–349 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01317268
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01317268