anti-HCV NS4a protein antibody, mouse monoclonal (S4-13)

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55-65 nm in size), enveloped, positive sense single-stranded RNA virus in the family Flaviviridae and the principal cause of parenteral non-A, non-B hepatitis. The virus genome consists of a single open reading frame of approximately 9,400 bases which encodes a single polyprotein of about 3,010 amino acids (1, 2, 3) . The polyprotein is processed by host cell and viral proteases into four structural proteins (core, envelope1 and 2, and p7) and six non-structural proteins (NS2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b) necessary for viral replication. NS3 serine proteinase is responsible for proteolytic processing of other non-structural proteins. NS4a protein (54 amino acids) forms a comlex with NS3 and functions as a cofactor for NS3 protease activity. A region of NS4 protein (the nucleotide sequence is shown in ref.4) of HCV genotype 1b expressed in E.coli. The epitope of this antibody was mapped to the N-terminal region of the NS4 protein (NS4a). Isotype: Mouse IgG2b kappa Applications 1. Western blotting 2. Immunofluorescence staining 3. ELISA