Screening of dominant epitopes of HCV in China

WAN Xiang-hui; YANG Xi-mei; ZOU Xue-sen

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-7151.2015.04.010

Abstract：Objective To screen the antigen peptides of hepatitis C virus(HCV) which can effectively induce humoral and cellular immunity based on the major genotypes in China. Methods The B, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and Th cell epitopes of HCV main genotype 1b, 2a and 6a in China were predicted by bioinformatics methods. BALB/C mice were immunized with HCV-CTL , HCV-B+HCV-Th and HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th. CTL activity was assessed by LDH assay kit. IFN-γcells were quantified using ELISPOT kit. Antibody titers were detected by ELISA assay. The results were analyzed statistically. Results There was no specific immune response in control group. There were statistical significance in the difference of CTL activ-ity among three groups at different titer (F=2045,F=6338,Pall<0.05). The CTL activity activated by HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th was higher than that of HCV-CTL, and HCV-CTL was higher than that of PBS, and the differences all had statistical significance (Pall<0.05). There was statistical significance in the difference of IFN-γ-secreting cells among HCV-CTL, HCV-B+HCV-Th and HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th immune groups (F=5308, P<0.05). There were statistical significance in the differences of IFN-γ-secreting cells be-tween each two groups (Pall<0.05). There were statistical significance in the difference of specific IgG titer a-mong HCV-B+HCV-Th group, HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th group and PBS group at different time (Pall<0.01). The specific IgG titer induced by HCV-B+HCV-Th and HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th were all higher than that of PBS, and the differences all had statistical significance at different time (Pall<0.05), but there were no statistical significance between HCV-B+HCV-Th and HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th at different time(P>0.05). Conclusion Co-immunization with HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th can induce high effective im-mune response. HCV-CTL+HCV-B+HCV-Th is potential as a recombinant HCV vaccine.