Kui Xiang, Sun Maosheng, Xie Tianhong, Wang Wenju, Jiang Lin, Yan Min, Ma Kaili, Li Hongjun
Institute of Medical Biology, Peking Union Medical College, Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
Viral Immunol. 2009 Feb;22(1):49-56. doi: 10.1089/vim.2008.0068.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) are highly immunogenic. In this study, gene fragments encoding hepatitis A virus (HAV) vp1 (aa 24-171), a hepatitis E virus (HEV) ORF2 gene fragment encoding aa 431-615, and gene fragments encoding a nine-peptide linker were spliced together. The spliced gene fragments were then inserted into the expression vector pBV220, resulting in the recombinant plasmid pBV-EA342, which expressed a 342-amino acid fusion protein. The fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and specifically reacted to human hepatitis A- and E-positive sera. VLPs were formed during the renaturation of the EA342 fusion protein. The chimeric HAV and HEV VLPs were able to immunize KM mice, and they induced strong anti-HAV and anti-HEV humoral immune responses. These results are promising for future studies.
病毒样颗粒（VLPs）具有高度免疫原性。在本研究中，编码甲型肝炎病毒（HAV）vp1（第24至171位氨基酸）的基因片段、编码戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）第431至615位氨基酸的开放阅读框2（ORF2）基因片段以及编码九肽接头的基因片段被拼接在一起。然后将拼接后的基因片段插入表达载体pBV220，得到重组质粒pBV-EA342，其表达一种342个氨基酸的融合蛋白。该融合蛋白在大肠杆菌中表达，并与人甲型和戊型肝炎阳性血清发生特异性反应。EA342融合蛋白复性过程中形成了VLPs。嵌合的甲型和戊型肝炎病毒VLPs能够免疫昆明小鼠，并诱导强烈的抗甲型肝炎病毒和抗戊型肝炎病毒体液免疫反应。这些结果为未来的研究带来了希望。
