基因工程表达的乙型肝炎病毒核心抗原转变为e抗原的研究

CONVERSION OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS CORE ANTIGEN EXPRESSED IN E.coli li INTO HEPATITIS B VIRUS e ANTIGEN

乙型肝炎病毒核心抗原及e抗原均为乙型肝炎病毒核衣壳的重要组成部分。自从发现病毒核心颗粒中存在着e抗原之后,它们之间的关系一直是人们研究的课题。有些报道认为,e抗原是核心抗原的组成成份。

protein denaturants ( SDS, 2ME and so on ) was adopted to convert core antigen synthesized in E.coli into e antigen. The titer of converted antigen was tested by the method of ELISA, e antigen was 1 : 1000 and core antigen was undetectable. It was demonstrated by analysing the SDS PAGE by silver staining that the protein bands over 28 kD disappeared and smaller molecular weight bands were still seen but had been obviously changed. Western blot shows that the e antigen consisted of two bands with molecular weight at about 17 kD, one of which appeared after treatment by denaturants and its molecular weight was a little smaller than 17 kD. While the core antigen was degraded, the e antigen was not. Instead, a new e antigen band appeared. These results suggest that there is a difference in molecular conformation between the core antigen and the e antigen. Similar to serum HBeAg,the converted e antigen can be neutralized by anti HBe positive serum but not by anti-HBc positive serum and normal human serum. After being kept in -40℃ refrigerator over one year, the specific property of the converted e antigen did not change.