Immunogenicity of peptide fusions to hepatitis B virus core antigen.
Abstract
Several gene fusions have been constructed in which coding sequences for antigenic regions of the pre-S sequences of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis B surface antigen, and the envelope protein of human immunodeficiency virus were linked to the 3' end of that for the first 144 residues of hepatitis B core antigen. The sequences were expressed efficiently in Escherichia coli to give stable products that assembled to form particles morphologically similar to hepatitis B core antigen itself. The products exhibited the antigenic and immunogenic characteristics of both the hepatitis B core antigen epitopes and the epitopes carried by the additional sequences, thus illustrating the value of such proteins as immunological reagents and potential vaccines.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- August 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.86.16.6283
- Bibcode:
- 1989PNAS...86.6283S