EP0672066A1 - Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc - Google Patents

Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc

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Publication number
EP0672066A1
EP0672066A1 EP94903751A EP94903751A EP0672066A1 EP 0672066 A1 EP0672066 A1 EP 0672066A1 EP 94903751 A EP94903751 A EP 94903751A EP 94903751 A EP94903751 A EP 94903751A EP 0672066 A1 EP0672066 A1 EP 0672066A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hcv
antibodies
peptide
seq
acid sequence
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP94903751A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Winand Johannes Antonius Habets
Pieter Jacob Boender
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Akzo Nobel NV
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Akzo Nobel NV
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Publication date
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Priority to EP94903751A priority Critical patent/EP0672066A1/fr
Publication of EP0672066A1 publication Critical patent/EP0672066A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/005—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from viruses
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/005—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from viruses
    • C07K14/01—DNA viruses
    • C07K14/02—Hepadnaviridae, e.g. hepatitis B virus
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
    • C12P21/00—Preparation of peptides or proteins
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/576—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for hepatitis
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N2770/00—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA ssRNA viruses positive-sense
    • C12N2770/00011—Details
    • C12N2770/24011—Flaviviridae
    • C12N2770/24211—Hepacivirus, e.g. hepatitis C virus, hepatitis G virus
    • C12N2770/24222—New viral proteins or individual genes, new structural or functional aspects of known viral proteins or genes

Definitions

  • the invention relates to peptides which react immunochemically with antibodies directed against the Hepatitis C virus and to nucleic acid sequences encoding these peptides.
  • the invention also relates to methods for the detection of HCV or anti-HCV in a test fluid and to immunochemical reagents and a test kits for carrying out said detection methods.
  • Hepatitis C virus is a 9.4-kb, single stranded polyadenylated RNA virus which has been recognized as one of the causative agents of NANB hepatitis (Non-A, Non-B) . It causes acute and chronic liver disease and is implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma. It can be distinguished from other forms of viral-associated liver diseases, including those caused by known hepatitis viruses, i.e., hepatitis A virus (HAV) , hepatitis B virus (HBV) , and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) , as well as the hepatitis induced by cytomegalovirus (CMV) or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
  • HAV hepatitis A virus
  • HBV hepatitis B virus
  • HDV hepatitis delta virus
  • CMV cytomegalovirus
  • EBV Epstein-Barr virus
  • HCV may be distantly related to the family Flaviviridae (Houghton M. et al., Hepatolo ⁇ y. 14:381, 1991..
  • Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis was first identified in transfused individuals. Transmission from man to chimpanzee and serial passage in chimpanzees provided evidence that Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis is due to a transmissible infectious agent or agents.
  • Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis exist: the water-borne epidemic type; the blood or needle associated type; and the sporadically occurring (community acquired) type.
  • the viral genome of HCV encodes a polyprotein of approximately 3010 amino acids that undergoes extensive posttranslational processing.
  • the viral structural region is located upstream from the nonstructural region and putatively includes a highly conserved 19-kDa nucleocapsid protein, and two extensively glycosylated envelope polypeptides, gp 33 (El) and gp72 (E2/NS1).
  • HCV envelope may be under strong immune selection.
  • a variety of presumed nonstructural proteins are processed from the remainder of the HCV polyprotein, including a membrane-bound 23-kDa protein, NS2, and a soluble protein of approximately 60 kDa, NS3, which corresponds to the viral helicase and may contain a N-terminal serine protease domain, currently thought to be involved in the processing of the NS proteins.
  • the function of the NS4 protein is presently unknown, but it comprises the 5-1-1 fragment that contains immunodominant antibody binding sites (Kuo G. et al..
  • NS5 contains the viral replicase.
  • Clinical studies have shown that, following exposure to HCV, antibodies to conserved regions of the viral nucleoprotein and NS3 may appear several weeks before seroconversion to anti-cl00-3, a recombinant protein encompassing the C-terminus of NS3 and part of the NS4 protein.
  • serological assays incorporating the highly-conserved HCV nucleocapsid protein as well as NS3 are likely to become useful diagnostic markers of acute HCV infection.
  • An objective of the current invention is to provide small peptides useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of HCV infection.
  • the objective of present invention is to provide peptides with a length small enough to have the advantages of small synthetic peptides but at the same time large enough to be immunoreactive with antibodies against HCV. Smaller peptides (12-mers) from the region encoded by the putative HCV NS3-gene were found to be not particularly useful to detect antibodies against HCV.
  • regions of the HCV NS3- genome are identified which form an optimal synthesis between length and immunoreactivity.
  • regions of the HCV NS3- genome are identified which form an optimal synthesis between length and immunoreactivity.
  • antigens are the core antigen, the NS-3 antigen, NS-5 antigen and the NS-4 antigen.
  • C33-only sera About 5 % (51 sera) from the 1100 screening- positive sera recognize only a part of the NS-3 region, the C33 antigen. These sera will be referred to in this application as "C33-only" sera, since the C-33 antigen is the only antigen recognized.
  • an assay can be performed based on a nucleic acid amplification technique like the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) , to detect the presence of HCV derived nucleic acid.
  • PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • PCR negative C-33 only sera with the C-33 antigen can be explained by the presence of a cross-reacting epitope on the C-33 antigen.
  • NS-3 antigen that is an antigen that comprises the C-33 epitope responsible for the true anti- HCV NS-3 immune response, in which the cross- reacting epitope is no longer present.
  • the present invention includes peptides with amino acid sequences selected from the group of sequences depicted in SEQ ID No.: 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 and combinations thereof or fragments of said group of sequences or analogues of said group of sequences which are immunochemically reactive with HCV-antibodies.
  • a library can be constructed consisting of DNA fragments from a recombinant clone encoding an antigen which covers most if not all of the putative HCV NS3 gene. These fragments could range in size from approximately 50 to 300 nucleotides and when expressed in the appropriate reading frame encoded HCV polypeptides ranging from approximately 17 to 100 amino acids. In this way a library can be constructed containing enough different recombinants to ensure that any possible fragment in the range of 17 to 100 amino acids is contained at least once. Recombinants which express exceptional " 'y reactive antigens can be selected using an appropriate antibody as a probe and DNA sequence encoding the exceptionally reactive peptides.
  • the peptides according to the invention are located in the putative NS3 region of the HCV genome.
  • the peptides according to the invention have been found to be exceptionally immunochemically reactive with HCV-antibodies.
  • An advantage of this reactivity is that the use of one or more of the peptides according to the invention will increase the specificity of the immunological assay when compared to the use of large recombinant fragments.
  • Another advantage is that the use of one or more of the peptides will increase the sensivity of the immunological assay.
  • the invention also comprises fragments of said peptides which are still immunochemically reactive with HCV-antibodies.
  • fragment as used herein means an amino acid sequence comprising a subsequence of a peptide of the invention. Said fragment is a peptide having one or more immunogenic determinants of the HCV NS3-antigen.
  • the invention comprises, but is not limited to specific peptides comprising fragments according to the invention with the amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ.ID. 7.
  • peptides comprise an amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ. ID. 6, 8, 9 and 10. It is evident that other fragments of the peptides according to the invention having the immunochemical reactivity with HCV patient sera are also part of this invention. Fragments can inter alia be produced by enzymatic cleavage of precursor molecules, using restriction endonucleases for the DNA and proteases for the polypeptides. Other methods include chemical synthesis of the fragments or the expression of polypeptide fragments by DNA fragments.
  • Analogues or derivatives of the peptides according to SEQ ID No. 6-10 are also included in the invention.
  • the term “analogues” refers for instance to post-expression modifications of a peptide, for example, glycosylations, acetylations, phosphorylations etc.
  • analogues of these peptides are also meant acid addition salts of the peptides, amides of the peptides and specifically the C-terminal amides, esters and specifically C-terminal esters and N-acyl derivatives specifically N-terminal acyl derivatives and in particular N-acetyl derivatives.
  • the preparation of the peptides according to the invention can be effected adapting one of the known organic chemical methods for peptide synthesis or with the aid of recombinant DNA techniques.
  • This latter method involves the preparation of the desired peptide by means of expressing a recombinant polynucleotide with the aid of a suitable vector containing a polynucleotide sequence which is coding for one or more of the peptides in question and introducing the vector in a suitable host.
  • the organic chemical methods for peptide synthesis are considered to include the coupling of the required amino acids by means of a condensation reaction, either in homogeneous phase or with the aid of a so-called solid phase.
  • the condensation reaction can be carried out as follows: a) condensation of a compound (amino acid, peptide) with a free carboxyl group and protected other reactive groups with a compound (amino acid, peptide) with a free amino group and protected other reactive groups, in the presence of a condensation agent; b) condensation of a compound (amino acid, peptide) with an activated carboxyl group and free or protected other reaction groups with a compound (amino acid, peptide) with a free amino group and free or protected other reactive groups.
  • Activation of the carboxyl group can take place, inter alia, by converting the carboxyl group to an acid halide, azide, anhydride, i idazolide or an activated ester, such as the N- hydroxy-succini ide, N-hydroxy-benzotriazole or p-nitrophenyl ester.
  • the most common methods for the above condensation reactions are: the carbodiimide method, the azide method, the mixed anhydride method and the method using activated esters, such as described in The Peptides, Analysis, Synthesis, Biology Vol. 1-3 (Ed. Gross, E. and Meienhofer, J. ) 1979, 1980, 1981 (Academic Press, Inc. ) .
  • the peptides according to the invention are prepared with the aid of recombinant DNA techniques.
  • Peptides can, for example, be incorporated in a repeating sequence ("in tandem") or can be prepared as a constituent of a (much larger) protein or polypeptide.
  • a polynucleotide with a specific nucleic acid sequence can be used which codes for the peptide according to the invention.
  • a polynucleotide of this type which is coding for the peptide according to the invention, and a recombinant DNA in which this polynucleotide is incorporated likewise fall within the scope of the invention.
  • the present invention is further directed to a peptide comprising a HCV specific epitope of the NS-3 antigen of the Hepatitis C virus, preferably comprising the amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ ID No: 7.
  • this peptide comprises an epitope of the NS-3 antigen that will react with antibodies that are specifically directed against HCV.
  • This peptide can therefore be used in an screening test for the detection of HCV, t ⁇ eliminate, or at least minimize, the cross reactivity with non-HCV antibodies. C33-only sera that would recognize this peptide are therefore infected with the HCV virus. It is a great advantage of the use of this particular peptide in assays (combined with other HCV antigens) that no additional PCR-based assay is needed to determine whether a C33-only serum is actually infected with HCV. Of course an immuno assay based on the use of this peptide can also be used to replace the PCR tests presently used to discriminate between infected and non-infected C33 only sera.
  • the invention also relates to an immunochemical reagent, which reagent comprises at least one of the peptides.
  • an "immunochemical reagent" according to the invention may comprise one or more peptides according to the invention and a suitable support or a labelling substance.
  • Supports which can be used are, for example, the inner wall of a microtest well or a cuvette, a tube or capillary, a membrane, filter, test strip or the surface of a particle such as, for example, a latex particle, an erythrocyte, a dye sol, a metal sol or metal compound as sol particle, a carrier protein such as BSA or KLH.
  • Labelling substances which can be used are, inter alia, a radioactive isotope, a fluorescent compound, an enzyme, a dye sol, metal sol or metal compound as sol particle.
  • the invention further encompasses nucleic acid sequences encoding the peptides according to the invention preferably a nucleic acid sequence containing at least part of the DNA sequence shown in SEQ ID No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
  • Nucleic acid sequence refers to a polymeric form of nucleotides of any length, both to ribonucleic acid sequences and to deoxyribonucleic acid sequences. In principle, this term refers to the primary structure of the molecule. Thus, this term includes double and single stranded DNA, as well as double and single stranded RNA, and modifications thereof.
  • a nucleic acid sequence according to the present invention can be ligated to various replication effecting DNA sequences with which it is not associated or linked in nature resulting in a so called recombinant vector molecule which can be used for the transformation of a suitable host.
  • Useful recombinant vector molecules are preferably derived from, for example plasmids, bacteriophages, cosmids or viruses.
  • vectors or cloning vehicles which can be used to clone nucleic acid sequences according to the invention are known in the art and include inter alia plasmid vectors such as pBR322, the various pUC, pGEM and Bluescript plasmids, bacteriophages, e.g. kgt-Wes, Charon 28 and the Ml3 derived phages or viral vectors such as SV40, adenovirus or polyoma virus (see also Rodriquez, R.L. and D.T. Denhardt, ed. , Vectors: A survey of molecular cloning vectors and their uses, Butterworth ⁇ , 1988; Lenstra, J.A. et al.. Arch. Virol.
  • the insertion of the nucleic acid sequence according to the invention into a cloning vector can easily be achieved when both the genes and the desired cloning vehicle have been cut with the same restriction enzyme(s) as complementary DNA termini are thereby produced.
  • the recombinant vector molecules according to the invention may additionally contain one or more marker activities that may be used to select for desired transformants, such as ampicillin and tetracycline resistance in pBR322, as for example ampicillin resistance and ⁇ -peptide of ⁇ - galactosidase in pUC8.
  • desired transformants such as ampicillin and tetracycline resistance in pBR322, as for example ampicillin resistance and ⁇ -peptide of ⁇ - galactosidase in pUC8.
  • the invention also comprises (a) host cell(s) transformed with a nucleic acid sequence or recombinant expression vector molecule described above, capable of producing the peptides according to the invention by expression of the corresponding nucleic acid sequence.
  • a suitable host cell is a microorganism or cell which can be transformed by a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide or by a recombinant vector molecule comprising such a nucleic acid sequence and which can if desired be used to express said polypeptide encoded by said nucleic acid sequence.
  • the host cell can be of procaryotic origin, e.g. bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudo onas species; or of eucaryotic origin such as yeasts, e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae or higher eucaryotic cells such as insect, plant or mammalian cells, including HeLa cells and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.
  • Insect cells include the Sf9 cell line of Spodoptera frugiperda (Luckow et al. , Bio-technology 6_, 47-55, 1988).
  • Information with respect to the cloning and expression of the nucleic acid sequence of the present invention in eucaryotic cloning systems can be found in Esser, K. et al. (Plasmids of Eukaryotes, Springer-Verlag, 1986).
  • prokaryotes are preferred for the construction of the recombinant vector molecules useful in the invention.
  • E.coli K12 strains are particularly useful such as DH5 ⁇ or MC1061k.
  • nucleic acid sequences of the present invention are introduced into an expression vector, i.e. said sequences are operably linked to expression control sequences.
  • control sequences may comprise promoters, enhancers, operators, inducers, ribosome binding sites etc. Therefore, the present invention provides a recombinant vector molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptides identified above operably linked to expression control sequences, capable of expressing the DNA sequences contained therein in (a) transformed host cell(s) .
  • nucleotide sequences inserted at the selected site of the cloning vector may include only a fragment of the complete nucleic acid sequence encoding for the peptides according to the invention as long as the transformed host will produce a polypeptide having at least one or more immunogenic determinants .
  • illustrative useful expression control sequences include the Trp promoter and operator (Goeddel, et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 8., 4057, 1980); the lac promoter and operator (Chang, et al., Nature 275, 615, 1978); the outer membrane protein promoter (Nakaraura, K. and Inouge, M. , EMBO J. 1, 771-775, 1982); the bacteriophage k promoters and operators (Remaut, E. et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 11, 4677-4688, 1983); the ..-amylase (B.
  • subtilis subtilis promoter and operator, termination sequence and other expression enhancement and control sequences compatible with the selected host cell.
  • illustrative useful expression control sequences include, e.g., ⁇ - mating factor.
  • the polyhedrin or plO promoters of baculoviruses can be used (Smith, G.E. et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 3., 2156-65, 1983).
  • illustrative useful expression control sequences include, e.g., the SV-40 promoter (Berman, P.W. et al.. Science 222 , 524-527, 1983) or, e.g.
  • Novel monoclonal antibodies that specifically react with the NS3 protein of the HCV virus and are particularly useful in immunodiagnostic tests for the datection of the presence or absence of HCV in clinical specimen are described in the co-pending and co-owned application No. EP 92.204.107.4, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • monoclonal antibodies which bind to an epitope of the NS3 protein of hepatitis C virus, which epitope is recognized by monoclonal antibodies secreted by the Epstein-Barr virus- transformed human lymphocyte-B cell line deposited at the European Collection of Animal Cell Cultures, Porton Down (UK) under deposit No. 92121609.
  • a preferred monoclonal antibody described in this co-pending application is secreted by the Epstein-Barr virus-transformed human lymphocyte-B cell line deposited at the European Collection of Animal Cell Cultures, Porton Down (UK) under deposit No. 92121609. HCVHU.OT3 has been deposited at the ECACC on 16 December 1992, under the terms and conditions of the Budapest treaty, 1977.
  • This monoclonal antibody (HCVHU.OT3) recognizes peptides according to the invention comprising the sequence as depicted in SEQ ID No. 7. Using this antibody it was confirmed by the inventors that peptides according to the present invention contain a HCV specific epitope of the NS-3 antigen.
  • the present invention is further directed to a method for the detection of antibodies directed against HCV in a test fluid, wherein a peptide according to the invention is brought into contact with the test fluid and the presence of immune complexes formed between the peptide and antibodies in the test fluid is detected.
  • the presence of immune complexes formed between the peptide and antibodies in the test fluid is detected and by this detection the presence of antibodies to HCV in the test fluid is known and can be determined.
  • the immunochemical reaction that takes place can be a so called sandwich reaction, an agglutination reaction, a competition reaction or an inhibition reaction.
  • a particularly suitable method for the detection of HCV in a test fluid is based on a competition reaction between a peptide according to the invention provided with a labelling substance and a HCV antigen (present in the test fluid) whereby the peptide and the antigen are competing with the antibody directed against HCV attached to a solid support.
  • the antibody coated on the support can, for example be an antibody according to the invention.
  • the invention is further directed to a method for the detection of Hepatitis C virus in a sample comprising contacting the sample with a monoclonal antibody according to the invention, and detecting immune complexes formed between the monoclonal antibody and a Hepatitis C antigen.
  • the test kit to be used comprises a monoclonal antibody according to the invention coated on a solid support, for example the inner wall of a microtest well, and either a labelled monoclonal antibody or fragment thereof as conjugate.
  • a further example of an immuno assay that can be used for the detection of HCV is a inhibition assay using human monoclonal antibodies as labelled reagent.
  • the binding of this reagent to antigen on a solid phase can be competed by antibodies in the test sample.
  • monoclonal antibodies according to the invention are very suitable in diagnosis, while those antibodies which are neutralizing are very useful in passive immunotherapy.
  • Part of the present invention is also a method for the detection of antibodies directed against a HCV specific epitope of the NS-3 protein of the Hepatitis C virus in a test-fluid, wherein a peptide according to the invention, comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group of sequences depicted in SEQ.ID. 6-10, and combinations thereof or fragments of said group of sequences or analogues of said group of sequences which are immunochemically reactive with HCV antibodies, is brought into contact with the test fluid and the presence of immune complexes formed between the peptide and the antibodies in the test fluid is detected.
  • Antibodies directed against a HCV specific epitope of the NS-3 protein can be detected in different ways. Using an antibody as described in our co-pending application and a peptide comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group of sequences depicted in SEQ.ID. 6-10, and combinations thereof or fragments of said group of sequences or analogues of said group of sequences which are immunochemically reactive with HCV antibodies, an inhibition or competition test may also be designed.
  • Part of the present invention is therefore also a method for the detection of antibodies directed against a HCV specific epitope of the NS-3 protein of the Hepatitis C virus in a test-fluid, wherein a peptide according to the invention, comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group of sequences depicted in SEQ.ID. 6-10, and combinations thereof or fragments of said group of sequences or analogues of said group of sequences which are immunochemically reactive with HCV antibodies, coated on a suitable support, is brought into contact with the test fluid and with an antibody according to the invention, provided with a label and any label bound to the solid phase is detected.
  • a peptide according to the invention comprising the amino acid sequence selected from the group of sequences depicted in SEQ.ID. 6-10, and combinations thereof or fragments of said group of sequences or analogues of said group of sequences which are immunochemically reactive with HCV antibodies, coated on a suitable support, is brought into contact with the test fluid and with an antibody according to the invention,
  • the invention also relates to a test kit for carrying out an immuno-assay, said test kit containing at least an immunochemical reagent according to the invention.
  • a test kit according to the invention comprises as an essential constituent an immunochemical reagent as described above.
  • This immunochemical reagent may comprise an antibody according to our co-pending application or a peptide according to the invention.
  • Test kits comprising a combination of different immunochemical reagents according to the invention, for example a peptide coated on a solid support and an antibody provided with a label, are of course within the scope of this invention.
  • the test kit may comprise, for example, a peptide according to the inventic coated to a solid support, for example the inner wall of a microtest well, and either a labelled peptide according to the invention or a labelled anti-antibody.
  • a sandwich reaction test format is the detection of HCV antigen whereby monoclonal antibodies according to the invention are coated to a solid support and monoclonal antibodies are used as conjugate.
  • the test kit may comprise a peptide according to the invention coated to, a solid support, and a labelled antibody directed against HCV preferably a monoclonal antibody directed against said peptide.
  • test kit comprises an immunochemical reagent which may comprise a peptide according to the invention coated to particles or sols.
  • test kit is, for example, the use of a labelled peptide according to the invention as immunochemical reagent in a competition reaction with a HCV antigen to be detected for a binding site on the antibody directed against HCV, which is coated to a solid support.
  • primers as basis of a test to detect HCV DNA or RNA by a nucleic acid amplification technique for instance the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or the nucleic acid sequence based amplification (NASBA) , as described in USP 4,683,202 and EP 329,822, respectively.
  • PCR polymerase chain reaction
  • NASBA nucleic acid sequence based amplification
  • test amplification kit for carrying out an amplification and detection method described above is also part of the present invention.
  • a peptide or fragment thereof according to the invention can be used in suitable pharmaceutical dosage forms in the prevention and/or treatment of NANB Hepatitis- disease.
  • the preparation of vaccines thus obtained using such a peptide or fragment thereof as active ingredients, can be accomplished by one skilled in the art.
  • Figure 1 is a graph illustrating the binding specificy of a monoclonal antibody (HCVHU.OT3 as described in co-pending and co-owned application No. EP 92.204.107.4, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference) for the NS3 protein.
  • FIG. 2 is a photograph of a recombinant immunoblot assay.
  • the characters A-G represent the following proteins: A: High Ig control
  • C clOO-3 (NS-4)
  • F superoxide dismutase
  • G low Ig control.
  • Lane 1 represents negative control serum
  • Lane 2 represents an anti NS-3 monoclonal antibody (HCVHU.OT3 as described in co-pending and co-owned application No. EP 92.204.107.4).
  • Lane 3 represents an anti-core monoclonal (HCVHU.OT2), while lane 4 represents polyclonal serum from a HCV-infected patient.
  • Figure 3 gives a schematic representation of a competition assay performed to determine competition between antibodies in human sera and HCVHU.OT3.
  • the specific C33 epitope is represented by the triangle, while a cross reactive site on the C33 is represented by the square.
  • Example 1 further exemplifies the specific immune reactivity of monoclonal antibody HCVHU.OT3.
  • sub A construction and screening of a lambda gt-11 library is described, generating the peptides according to the invention.
  • sub B isolation of phage lambda coded beta-galactosidase HCV (C33 derived) hybrid proteins reactive with human sera and a human monoclonal antibody (HCVHU.OT3) is described.
  • Example 3 illustrates the specificity of
  • Example 4 the specific reactivity of the peptides according to the invention with antibodies directed against HCV is exemplified by showing correlation with PCR results and ELISA results using the peptides according to the invention.
  • Example 1 Testing on anti-NS3 production of B-cell lines. The specificity of oligoclonal and monoclonal IgG-containing supernatants was further tested with the following reagents:
  • Recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA II generation, Ortho Diagnostics) . This is a nitrocellulose-based assay that includes 4 recombinant HCV antigens:
  • SOD Human superoxide dismutase
  • Figure 1 illustrates the specific binding capacity of antibodies according to the invention.
  • the binding of the monoclonal antibody HCVHU.OT3 to different HCV derived proteins is compared with the binding of antibodies specific for HCV core and NS4 proteins respectively.
  • the monoclonal antibody HCVHU.OT3 recognized a recombinant NS3 protein preparation and gave a clear positive reaction in Ortho II generation assay, whereas no binding to recombinant HCV core and NS-5 proteins could be documented.
  • HCVHU.OT3 supernatant by recombinant immunoblot revealed clear binding to the c33c polypeptide only, further attesting to the specificity of the mAb as can be seen from figure 2, where lane 2 represents an antibody according to the co-pending and co-owned application No. EP 92.204.107.4 (HCVHU.OT3).
  • ad A The sequence coding for a part of the NS-3 gene of HCV (nucleotides 3573-4890) has been multiplied by PCR using specific primers. Starting material was obtained from a clone constructed by rt-PCR from chimpanzeeserum infected with the prototype HCV-strain. The PCR products were isolated from TBE-polyacrylamide gel (8% PAGE) by electroelution.
  • Portions (20 ⁇ l out of 80 ⁇ l) of this PCR-material have been digested under controlled conditions (25 °C, 10- 60 minutes, in an endvolume of 25 ⁇ l containing 1 mM MnCl 2 , 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5) and DNAse-1 (Worthington 2635 units per mg, end concentration: 0.6 units).
  • the digestions were stopped in phenol/chloroform-isoamylalcohol and extracted.
  • the DNAse digestions were controlled by nicktranslation.
  • ad B The inserts of the positive phages were also challenged in a Western-blot assay with a choice of sera characterized with commercial tests. For this purpose lytic growth was performed as follows: the inoculum was a single plaque eluted in 1 ml of SM buffer (lOO M NaCl, 8mM MgS04*7H20, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 0.01% gelatin) .
  • sequence as depicted in SEQ.ID. 2 (encoding a peptide comprising the amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ.ID. 7) was amplified by PCR using primers specific for the ends of this fragment.
  • the PCR fragments were digested under controlled conditions (25 °C, three, five and ten minutes, in an endvolume of 25 microliter containing 1 mM MnC12, 20 mM Tris- HCl, pH 7.5) and DNAse-1 (Worthington 2635 units per mg, end concentration: 0.6 units). The digestions were stopped in phenol/chloroform- isoamylalcohol and extracted.
  • the fragments were tailed with oligo-dG following recommendations of the supplier (0.5 ⁇ l of DNA with 2 ⁇ l of 5* TdT buffer, 2 ⁇ l of 1 mM dGTP, 5.2 ⁇ l of H20, 0.3 ⁇ l of terminal transferase, 5 units/ ⁇ l; Gibco/BRL) . Fractions containing fragments with a length from approximately hundred till twohundred and fifty basepairs as controlled by electrophoresis were pooled. PCR was performed on the tailed product using as a primer poly-C with a terminal EcoRl- site attached.
  • the reaction to the immobilized phage-encoded proteins was detected with alkaliphosphatase-conjugated goat anti-human IgG.
  • the positive phages were rescreened to positively identify their contents and thereafter their inserts were transferred to the vector pGEM7Zf(+), (Promega) .
  • the inserts in this vector were sequenced using a commercial kit (Pharmacia T7-sequencing kit) according to the recommendations of the supplier.
  • Lytic growth was performed as follows: the inoculum was a single plaque eluted in 1 ml of SM buffer (lOOmM NaCl, 8mM MgS04*7H20, 50 mM Tris- HCL, pH 7.5, 0.01% gelatin). From this 50 ⁇ l was added to 4 ml LB-medium (10 g/L Bacto-tryptone, 5g/L yeast extract, 5 g/L NaCl), 4 ⁇ l ampicillin (50mg/ml) and 200 ⁇ l of a twice concentrated Y1090 overnight culture solved in 10 mM MgS04.
  • ELISA Enzym-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay
  • the peptide according to the sequence of SEQ ID No. 7 (an identical approach is used for the peptides with SEQ.ID. 6, 8-10) is dissolved to 7.5 ⁇ g/ml in 100 mM phosphate buffer pH 9.6 and 135 ⁇ l of the above peptide solution is placed into each well of a NUNC microtiter plate. Binding of the peptide to the microtiter plate is allowed to proceed overnight at 4° C.
  • the plates are blocked with a solution of 0.05% Tween 20 (R) in 0.2 M Tris pH 7.4/0.2 M NaCl for 5 min. at room temperature. Plates are then washed once with 0.2 M Tris pH 7.4/0.2 M NaCl, twice with 0.04 M Tris pH 7.4, at 250 ⁇ l per well and dried.
  • the serum samples are diluted in sample diluent (phosphate buffered saline (PBS)/20% normal goat serum/1% Triton X100) pipetted into the well (100 ⁇ l per well) and incubated for 1 h at 37 °C.
  • sample diluent phosphate buffered saline (PBS)/20% normal goat serum/1% Triton X100
  • Ortho 2.0, Ortho 3.0, LIA-III and RIBA are commercial available HCV test systens.
  • Ortho 2.0, Ortho 3.0, LIA-III and RIBA are commercial available HCV test systems.
  • Example 3 Hu OT3 competition assay. Recombinant C33 antigen (Chiron, EP 318.216) was purified and coated on ELISA plates in carbonate buffer pH 9.6 at a concentration of l ⁇ g/ l. HuOT3 (which is the antibody according to the our co-owned and copending application EP 92.204.107.4) was labelled with HRP using standard procedures.
  • culture supernatant was applied to a protein-A-Sepharose column at AT.
  • the column was washed (3M NaCl 1.5 M Glycine pH 8.9) and subsequently eluted using a 0.1 M citric acid bu fer with 4 M NaOH at pH 4.0.
  • Fractions were collected in saturate Tris to a final pH of 7.0.
  • Fractions were concentrated on an Amicon icroconcentrator and desalted on a PD-10 column.
  • IgG concentrations were determined using a micro- BCA-assay.
  • the schematic representation of the competition assay is shown in figure 3.
  • the specific C33 epitope is represented by a triangle, while a cross reactive site on the C33 is represented by the square.
  • C33-only sera that do recognize C33 but are PCR negative may contain antibodies to the "square" cross reacting epitope as presented in figure 3.
  • a microtiter well of the above described C33 ELISA was preincubatf J with the particula- unlabelled competing serum un ⁇ er investigation. After 30 in. , the HRP labelled HuOT3 was added and both the labelled and the unlabelled antibodies were allowed to compete for binding for another 30 minutes. To determine 100% competition, the human monoclonal was used in a 100-fold molar excess.
  • % competition [1-(C-B)/(A-B) ] x 100% This assay was validated with 10 normal control sera and 10 sera from HCV patients that were found PCR positive and RIBA positive.
  • HuOT3 antibody while the control sera did not, form which it can be concluded that the HuOT3 antibody recognizes an important, immunodominant epitope on the NS-3 antigen.
  • a clone comprising the nucleic acid sequence encoding the peptide with the sequence as depicted in SEQ ID No.:7 was expressed as a ⁇ - galactosidase fusion protein by lysogenic lambda- gtll phages.
  • the fusion protein was purified using an anti- ⁇ -gal affinity column (Promega) according to the manufactures instructions.
  • the purified fusion protein was diluted to 1 ⁇ g/ml in carbonate buffer and coated on microtiter ELISA plates. Sera were diluted 1:34 and tested using standard ELISA procedures. Binding of specific antibody was determined with a goat-anti-human peroxidase conjugate. Cut-off value was statistically determined as average value obtained with 20 normal sera plus 5 times the standard deviation.
  • ORGANISM Escherichia Coli
  • STRAIN .JMlOl
  • MOLECULE TYPE DNA (genomic)
  • MOLECULE TYPE DNA (genomic)
  • MOLECULE TYPE DNA (genomic)
  • CATCTCATCT TCTGTCATTC AAAGAAGAAG TGCGACGAAC 40 TCGCCGCAAA GCTGGTCGCA TTGGGCATCA ATGCTGTGGC 80 CTACTACCGC GGTCTTGACG TGTCCGTCAT CCCGACCAGC 120 GGCGATGTTG TCGTCGTGGC AACCGATGCC CTCATGACCG 160 GCTATACCGG CGACTTCGAC TCGGTGATAG ACTGC 195
  • MOLECULE TYPE DNA (genomic)

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Abstract

L'invention concerne des peptides qui réagissent immunochimiquement avec des anticorps dirigés contre le VHC (virus de l'hépatite C). Dans cette invention, un peptide préféré comprend un épitope spécifique du VHC situé dans la protéine NS-3. L'invention concerne aussi des anticorps qui réagissent spécifiquement avec la protéine NS-3 du VHC. Des procédés de détection du VHC ou des anticorps dirigés contre le VHC, et un procédé de détection des anticorps qui réagissent spécifiquement avec l'antigène NS-3, font également partie intégrante de l'invention.
EP94903751A 1992-12-07 1993-12-07 Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc Withdrawn EP0672066A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94903751A EP0672066A1 (fr) 1992-12-07 1993-12-07 Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP92203802 1992-12-07
EP92203802 1992-12-07
EP93201854 1993-06-25
EP93201854 1993-06-25
EP94903751A EP0672066A1 (fr) 1992-12-07 1993-12-07 Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc
PCT/EP1993/003478 WO1994013700A1 (fr) 1992-12-07 1993-12-07 Peptides provenant de la region c33 du vhc, anticorps diriges contre ces peptides et procedes de detection du vhc

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EP0672066A1 true EP0672066A1 (fr) 1995-09-20

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EP (1) EP0672066A1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH08504421A (fr)
KR (1) KR950704354A (fr)
AU (1) AU5809694A (fr)
CA (1) CA2151126A1 (fr)
FI (1) FI952779A (fr)
WO (1) WO1994013700A1 (fr)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5639594A (en) * 1990-02-16 1997-06-17 United Biomedical, Inc. Linear and branched peptides effective in diagnosing and detecting non-A, non-B hepatitis
FR2737209B1 (fr) * 1995-07-25 1997-09-19 Bio Merieux Peptide capable d'etre reconnu par des anticorps reconnaissant l'antigene c33 du virus de l'hepatite c
US8546075B2 (en) * 2003-10-28 2013-10-01 Advanced Life Science Institute, Inc. Method of detecting hepatitis C virus

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH02500880A (ja) * 1987-11-18 1990-03-29 カイロン　コーポレイション Ｎａｎｂｖの診断用薬およびワクチン
AU7679491A (en) * 1990-04-04 1991-10-30 Protos, Inc. Hepatitis c virus protease inhibitors

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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Title
See references of WO9413700A1 *

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CA2151126A1 (fr) 1994-06-23
JPH08504421A (ja) 1996-05-14
FI952779A (fi) 1995-07-31
WO1994013700A1 (fr) 1994-06-23
AU5809694A (en) 1994-07-04
KR950704354A (ko) 1995-11-20
FI952779A0 (fi) 1995-06-06

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