Highly efficient expression of a polypeptide containing a modified preS1 region of the major hepatitis B virus antigen.

摘要

The present invention relates to processes for preparing recombinant molecules which comprise the nucleotide sequence for the structure of the preS1 region of the surface glycoprotein of hepatitis B virus, and to compositions of these molecules. The compositions of the recombinant molecules can comprise a promoter and a marker gene. Cloning vectors are used to integrate the recombinant molecules into host vectors (vaccinia virus). Cells infected with the chimeric vaccinia viruses produce large amounts of preS1 protein. Isolation and purification of the preS1-containing protein are facilitated by using a recombinant molecule in which the myristylation site has been deleted by modification of the nucleotide sequence. The purified preS1-containing protein is suitable for developing vaccines, diagnostic reagent kits and therapies.