Hepatitis B Virus Antigens

Hepatitis B Virus Antigen Products by Targets

Hepatitis B virus, abbreviated HBV, is a species of the genus Orthohepadnavirus, which is likewise a part of the Hepadnaviridae family of viruses. HBV causes the disease hepatitis B. As far as known, HBV is only susceptible to infect human beings and primates, causing hepatitis B disease. Hepatitis B virus has been found by Dana in 1965. The diameter of this virus is 42 nm and viral particle contains two parts, named shell and core. HBVs have widely tolerance to various stress conditions, such as boiling in 65-degree water for 10 hours and still keeping alive. But in some extremely conditions, such as boiled in 100 degree for 10 minutes or high-pressure steam, peracetic acid and povidone-iodine can inactivate HBV.

There are eight known genotypes labeled A through H. Type A is prevalent in Europe, Africa and South-east Asia, including the Philippines. Type B and C are predominant in Asia; type D is common in the Mediterranean area, the Middle East and India. Type A has two subtypes: Aa (A1) in Africa/Asia and the Philippines and Ae (A2) in Europe/United States. Type B has two distinct geographical distributions: Bj/B1 ('j'—Japan) and Ba/B2 ('a'—Asia). Type C has two geographically subtypes: Cs (C1) in South-east Asia and Ce (C2) in East Asia. The C subtypes have been divided into five clades (C1–C5). A sixth clade (C6) has been described in the Philippines but only in one isolate to date. Type D has been divided into 7 subtypes (D1–D7). Type E is localized in sub-Saharan Africa; type F (or H) is restricted to Central and South America. The E and F strains appear to have originated in aboriginal populations of Africa and the New World, respectively. Type F has been subdivided into 4 subtypes (F1–F4).

1. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) HBsAg was the first hepatitis B virus protein to be discovered. It consists of small (S), medium (M) and large (L) protein.
2. Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) HBcAg is the main structural protein of HBV icosahedral nucleocapsid and it has function in replication of the virus. Capsid formation is the main factor for infection of the cell. HBcAg contributes to HBV clearance in vivo, but it is unknown whether HBcAg has to be in the capsid form to contribute to viral clearance.
3. Hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg) HBeAg can be found between the icosahedral nucleocapsid core and the lipid envelope, but is considered "nonparticulate" and is secreted and accumulates in serum. HBeAg and HBcAg are made from the same reading frame.
4. Hepatitis B core X protein (HBx) HBx is small, 154 amino acid long, nonstructural and has an important role in HBV-associated liver disease and in HBV replication in HepG2 cells. Many activities have been linked to expression of HBx. However, the molecular mechanisms of many of these activities are unknown. This protein is multifunctional and it activates cellular signaling pathways and is essential for viral infection.
5. Hepatitis B virus DNA polymerase Hepatitis B virus DNA polymerase is incorporated into the nucleocapsid along with the pre-genomic RNA (pgRNA). Inside the capsid, the pgRNA undergoes reverse transcription, making the (-) DNA strand. At the same time, most of the RNA template is degraded by the RNase activity of the polymerase. This is followed by (+) DNA strand synthesis, and the polymerase ends up covalently bound to the (-) DNA strand. The polymerase is discarded after the virion infects a new cell.

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