@article{mbs:/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-73-3-667, author = "Takahashi, Kazuaki and Okamoto, Hiroaki and Kishimoto, Shinya and Munekata, Eisuke and Tachibana, Katsumi and Akahane, Yoshihiro and Yoshizawa, Hiroshi and Mishiro, Shunji", title = "Demonstration of a hepatitis C virus-specific antigen predicted from the putative core gene in the circulation of infected hosts", journal= "Journal of General Virology", year = "1992", volume = "73", number = "3", pages = "667-672", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-73-3-667", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-73-3-667", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2099", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "An ELISA was used to detect a protein derived from the core gene of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in human plasma. The solid phase antibody in the assay was a murine monoclonal antibody against a synthetic peptide deduced from the putative core gene of HCV (residues 39 to 74). An enzyme-labelled affinity-purified human antibody directed at another region within the HCV core (residues 5 to 23) was the second antibody tracer. The ELISA had a sensitivity capable of detecting a few ng/ml of the HCV core polypeptide expressed in Escherichia coli. Core antigen activity in plasma of infected hosts was detected after treatment of HCV RNA-rich fractions from buoyant density centrifugation with the detergent Tween 80. There was a direct correlation between core antigen ELISA values of a plasma fraction and intensities of polymerase chain reaction signals for HCV RNA. These observations are consistent with the proposal that the N-terminal sequence of the predicted polyprotein of HCV is a nucleocapsid protein, and that improved core antigen assays may correlate with viraemia.", }