Not available outside of the UK & Ireland.

Application

Hepatitis core antigen (HCA) has been used as an analyte in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to study the mechanism of bovine serum albumin (BSA) blocking in common ELISA protocols.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV-cAg) may be a less expensive way to diagnose active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the hemodialysis (HD) population.

Positive control for HCV antibodies.

General description

Hepatitis C virus glycoprotein 1 (HCVgp1), also referred to as polyprotein, is crucial for the induction of double-membrane vesicles, sites of HCV RNA amplification. The amino terminal of polyprotein contains the structural proteins core, envelope protein 1 (E1) and E2. The proteolytic cleavage of polyprotein results in the formation of 10 mature viral proteins which are needed for viral replication and assembly.

amino acids 2-192 of HCV polyprotein

Hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCV-cAg) is a well-preserved antigenic protein of the internal capsid.

Other Notes

HCV core antigen [2-192]-Galactosidase-tagged at the N-terminus.

Physical form

Solution in 8 M Urea, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol.

Specificity

Reacts strongly with human HCV positive serum.