Hepatitis B Antigen: Antigenic Sites Related to Human Serum Proteins Revealed by Affinity Chromatography

Abstract

Hepatitis B antigen-associated particles, isolated from sera of antigen carriers, were submitted to affinity chromatography on columns of insolubilized antibodies to normal human plasma. The (7) suggest the presence of DNA in the core of the 42-nm particles. The molecular masses of the polypeptides identified in HBAg, which has a particle weight of approximately 7 X 10-18 g (8), add up to 320,000-490,000 daltons (9, 10), corresponding to 2550 to 3935 amino acids as calculated from the amino-acid composition (8). The lower and upper numbers correspond to the d and y subtypes of HBAg, respectively. Thus the total length of cistrons coding for these polypeptides should correspond to 7,650 to 11,805 nucleotides. The (500 and 0.5 mg/ml, respectively, 25,000, 30 min at 370) and diethylether + Tween 80 (500 and 0.5 mg/ml, respec-

Identification of Additional Antigenic Sites on Dane Particles and the Tubular Forms of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen

“…The immunosorbent was prepared as described (Neurath et al 1974). A column containing 25o mg of protein from the eAb preparation bound to 7"5 g of CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B (Pharmacia) was used for chromatography.…”

Albumin receptors on hepatitis B virus and antibodies to albumin

“…Highly purified preparations of HBsAg were precipitated by antisera to human albumin (22). Detergent treatment of highly purified HBsAg still released albumin (23). It is controversial, however, whether albumin was present as a serum contaminant or as a constituent component of HBsAg (24).…”

Properties of Delipidated Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) and Preparation of Its Proteolytic Cleavage Fragments Carrying HBsAg-Specific Antigenic Determinants

“…The lack of an appropriate im mune response to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection appears to be involved in the frequent establishment of the HBV carrier state in humans. It seems pos sible that distinct epitopes on HBsAg, some of which are related to normal human antigens [32][33][34], may play different roles in the immune response to HBV (HBsAg). Therefore, the dissection of HBsAg into fragments carrying distinct epitopes may be of importance for studies related to problems of active immunization to hepatitis B.…”