EXPRESSION OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS STRUCTURAL PROTEINS

据估计，世界人口的3%已感染丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）。 超过80%的感染者会变成慢性感染者，使他们有患肝硬化和肝癌的风险。 到目前为止，还没有批准的疫苗，干扰素是唯一批准的治疗方法，只解决了20%的治疗。 HCV在组织培养中生长不好，并且在各种系统中结构蛋白的异源表达仅获得中等成功。 纯化的HCV多肽的有限数量阻碍了对宿主免疫应答、病毒生物学以及疫苗和治疗剂的开发的研究。 该I期研究将测试利用独特的真核异源系统有效表达和分泌具有天然构象的重组病毒结构蛋白的可行性。使用该系统进行表达具有产生大量高质量蛋白质的潜力，用于各种用途，包括开发安全、有效和成本有效的疫苗。拟议的商业应用：全世界有超过5亿人慢性感染丙型肝炎病毒;没有疫苗，治疗方法有限。本研究将表达HCV结构蛋白，并对重组蛋白的数量和质量进行评价。高水平的构象相关蛋白的成功表达有助于开发安全、有效和成本有效的HCV疫苗。

An estimated 3% of the world population has been infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Greater than 80% of those infected individuals become chronically infected, putting them at risk for liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. To date there is no approved vaccine, and interferon the only approved treatment, resolves only 20% of those treated. HCV does not grow well in tissue culture and heterologous expression of the structural proteins in a variety of systems have met with only moderate success. The limited quantity of purified HCV polypeptides has hindered investigations into understanding the host immune response, virus biology, as well as, the development of vaccines and therapeutics. This Phase I research will test the feasibility of utilizing a unique eukaryotic heterologous system to efficiently express and secrete recombinant viral structural proteins that have native conformation. Use of this system for expression has the potential to produce large quantities of high quality protein for a variety of uses including the development of a safe, efficacious and cost effective vaccine. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: More than 500 million people world-wide are chronically infected with Hepatitis C virus; there is no vaccine, and therapies are limited. The proposed research will express the HCV structural proteins, and assess the quantity and quality of the recombinant protein. Successful expression of high levels of conformationally relevant protein could contribute to the development of a safe, efficacious and cost effective HCV vaccine.