STRUCTURAL PROTEIN GENE, RECOMBINANT VECTOR, ESCHERICHIA COLI TRANSFORMED THEREWITH, POLYPEPTIDE AND ITS PRODUCTION

摘要

PURPOSE:To produce a polypeptide having HCV antigenic activity by culturing Eschericha coli transformed with a recombinant vector prepared by integrating a structural protein gene of hepatitis C virus in a culture medium. CONSTITUTION:Escherichia coli is transformed with a recombinant vector prepared by integrating a structural protein gene of hepatitis C virus expressed by formula I. The resultant transformed Escherichia coli is then cultured in a culture medium to produce a polypeptide having HCV antigenic activity. The produced polypeptide is subsequently collected from the resultant culture. The structural protein gene of the hepatitis C virus can be inserted into the downstream side of a promoter of a vector utilizing a restriction enzyme site derived from a linker added in preparing the cDNA library, a restriction enzyme site derived from a plasmid in which the structural protein gene is inserted or a restriction enzyme site in the interior of the structural protein gene, etc. The obtained recombinant vector is capable of expressing the structural protein gene of the hepatitis C virus in the bacterial cell of Escherichia coli.