Demonstration of Hepatitis B e Antigen in Hepatitis B Core Particles Obtained from the Nucleus of Hepatocytes Infected with Hepatitis B Virus
- 1 March 1979
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Microbiology Society in Journal of General Virology
- Vol. 42 (3) , 513-519
- https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-42-3-513
Abstract
Liver tissue [human] infected with hepatitis B virus was homogenized and nuclei were separated by centrifugation. Hepatitis B core particles were obtained from the nucleus by the digestion with Pronase followed by ultracentrifugation in a sucrose density gradient. Hepatitis B core particles were then treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate and 2 mercaptoethanol and tested for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) by the hemagglutination method. The antigenicity of HBeAg was clearly demonstrated in hepatitis B core particles so treated; untreated core particles did not reveal any detectable HBeAg activity. The localization of HBeAg in hepatitis B core particles was further supported by the results of a fluorescent antibody technique. When a frozen section of the liver infected with hepatitis B virus was stained with the specific rabbit antibody against HBeAg labeled with fluorescent isothiocyanate, only nuclei of hepatocytes were stained, in a similar distribution to hepatitis B core antigen visualized by fluorescent antibody against hepatitis B core antigen in a nearby section.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Host specificity of a serum marker for hepatitis B: evidence that "e antigen" has the properties of an immunoglobulin.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1977