Immunochemistry and polypeptide composition of hepatitis B core antigen (HBc Ag)

Core particles were isolated from a nuclear extract of a hepatitis B-infected liver labeled with 125I by using chloramine-T and further purified by rate zonal sedimentation on sucrose gradients. Iodinated HBcAg was used as a ligand in a sensitive double-antibody radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) assay for antibody to HBcAg. The specificity of the RIP reaction was evaluated using defined anti-HBc sera and paired sera from six well-documented cases of hepatitis B infection. The polypeptide composition of the iodinated antigen was examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of solubilized complexes of 125I-HBcAg and anti-HBc. Two major polypeptides with apparent m.w. of 17,000 and 35,000 daltons were observed and designated as cP-1 and cP-2, respectively.