Method for improved early recognition of the seroconversion of an antibody to hepatitis C

摘要

Immunological determination of an antibody directed against hepatitis C virus in a liquid sample, comprises incubating the liquid sample with at least a polypeptide that contains a sequence region from hepatitis C virus, preferably NS3 region of hepatitis C virus, and detecting the antibody on binding with the polypeptide, where the NS3 region contains at least one cysteine residue, one or more sulfhydryl groups derived from the cysteine are present in covalently modified form and/or one or more cysteine residues are replaced by other structural analog alpha -amino acids. Independent claims are included for: (1) a reagent for the immunological determination of an antibody directed against hepatitis C virus comprising the polypeptide; and (2) use of NS3 antigen for immunological determination of an antibody directed against hepatitis C virus in a liquid sample.