Abstract
New putative antigenic peptides corresponding to the N- and C-terminal of the E2 envelope protein of GBVC/ HGV were synthesized using solid-phase chemistry. The antigens were obtained in linear and chimeric forms with the main aim of improving the sensitivity of the enzyme immunoassays. Furthermore, CD and FTIR have been used in conjunction to characterize their conformational changes showing that the chimeric peptide presents a more ordered secondary structure than its parent peptides.
Keywords: Hepatitis G virus / GB virus C, solid-phase peptide synthesis, chimeric peptides, ELISA, circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy