The application relates to an HCV recombinant antigen and a mutant thereof. The application provides an HCV recombinant antigen, the HCV recombinant antigen including at least 1 NS3 antigen, wherein at least one cysteine of the NS3 antigen in positions 1192-1517 of an HCV amino acid sequence is mutated into G and/or A, and preferably mutated into A. The application further provides a nucleic acid encoding the HCV recombinant antigen, an expression vector including the nucleic acid, a host cell including the expression vector, a conjugate including the HCV recombinant antigen, and a kit including the HCV recombinant antigen.

The present disclosure relates to an HCV recombinant antigen and use of the same. Provided is an HCV recombinant antigen, which includes at least two NS3 antigens, at least one NS4 antigen, and at least one core antigen. Further provided are a nucleic acid encoding the HCV recombinant antigen, an expression vector containing the nucleic acid, a host cell containing the expression vector, a conjugate containing the HCV recombinant antigen, and a kit containing the HCV recombinant antigen, and the like.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for over 50% of acute viral hepatitis cases worldwide. The inventors have now identified the precise sequence of infectious particle-associated ORF2 capsid protein. Strikingly, their analyses revealed that in infected patients, HEV produces three forms of the ORF2 capsid protein: ORF2i, ORF2g and ORF2c. The ORF2i protein is associated with infectious particles whereas ORF2g and ORF2c proteins are massively produced glycoproteins that are not associated with infectious particles and are the major antigens present in HEV-infected patient sera. Accordingly, the ORF2i and ORF2g proteins are thus the subject matter of the present invention as well as antibodies specific for the proteins and diagnostic assays (e.g. ELISA) for the diagnosis of Hepatitis E virus infection.

A method for detecting whether glucose metabolism is abnormal comprises: detecting GPx2 gene expression, GPx2 protein expression or the activity of GPx2 protein in a test body, and making comparisons with GPx2 expression amount of a normal individual, when the GPx2 expression of the individual is significantly lower than that of the normal individual, indicating that the carbohydrate metabolism of the individual is in an abnormal state. Applications of GPx2 in the preparation of a medical composition for the treatment and prevention of type II diabetes.

Provided herein are, inter alia, methods, compositions and kits for HCV antigen and vaccine design. Preferred methods include measuring neutralization of HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) by antibodies specific for an HCV in the biological sample, generating a neutralizations profile of each biological sample; deconvoluting the HCV-specific neutralizing antibodies by generating reference antibody neutralization profiles; correlating the reference antibody neutralization profiles to the biological sample's neutralization profile; and, identifying the HCV neutralizing antibodies.

Provided is a hepatitis C virus detection kit, a method for detecting hepatitis C virus, and a method for preparing a reagent or kit for detecting the hepatitis C virus. The kit contains a primary antibody and a second antibody for detecting a hepatitis C virus core antigen, wherein the primary antibody is directed against an epitope in a 95th-117th amino acid sequence of the hepatitis C virus core antigen or specifically binds to the 95th-117th amino acid sequence of the hepatitis C virus core antigen; and the second antibody is directed against an epitope in a 55th-72nd amino acid sequence of the hepatitis C virus core antigen or specifically binds to the 55th-72nd amino acid sequence of the hepatitis C virus core antigen. The kit has high sensitivity, good stability, and simple operation, and can be used for rapid detection of early acute hepatitis C.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is annually responsible for 20 million infections with 3.4 million symptomatic cases and 70,000 deaths mainly occurring in less developed regions of the world. HEV is a non-enveloped virus containing a linear, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome that contains three open reading frames (ORFs), namely, ORF1, ORF2 and ORF3. ORF2 encodes the ORF2 viral capsid protein, which is involved in particle assembly, binding to host cells and eliciting neutralizing antibodies. Recently, 3 different forms of the ORF2 capsid protein were identified: infectious/intracellular ORF2 (ORF2i), glycosylated ORF2 (ORF2g), and cleaved ORF2 (ORF2c). The ORF2i protein, for which the precise sequence has been identified, is the form that is associated with infectious particles and thus antibodies having specificity for the ORF2i protein would be suitable for the diagnosis of HEV. The present fulfills this need by providing an antibody which binds to the ORF2i protein of hepatitis E virus and wherein said antibody does not bind to the ORF2g protein nor to the ORF2c of hepatitis E virus, and wherein the epitope of said antibody comprises at least one amino acid residue from amino acid residues 542 to 555 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

The present disclosure relates to a method for detecting a core polypeptide of a hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a sample from a subject involving (a) contacting said sample with a base and with a surfactant having a cationic detergent, and (b) detecting a core polypeptide of the HCV in the sample. The present invention further relates to a method for pre-processing a sample from a subject for detection of HCV, involving contacting the sample with a base and with a surfactant having a cationic detergent; and to a pre-processing reagent for detecting HCV in a sample, having a base and a surfactant including a cationic detergent, wherein the surfactant also has a nonionic detergent. Moreover, the present disclosure further relates to kits, uses, and devices related to the methods disclosed.

Disclosed is a non-invasive method for assessing in a subject the presence and severity of a liver lesion, or the risk of death or liver-related events, including: 1) performing at least three binary logistic regressions on at least one variable, performed on the same variable(s) but each directed to a different single diagnostic target, thereby obtaining at least three scores; 2) combining the scores from step 1) in a multiple linear regression to obtain a new multi-targeted score; 3) optionally sorting the multi-targeted score obtained in step 2) in a classification of liver lesion stages or grades, thereby determining to which liver lesion stage or grade the subject belongs based on his/her multi-targeted score. Also disclosed is a single multi-targeted non-invasive test obtained by the combination of single-targeted non-invasive tests providing a unique score and a unique classification with improved accuracy compared to single-targeted diagnostic tests.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is annually responsible for 20 million infections with 3.4 million symptomatic cases and 70,000 deaths mainly occurring in less developed regions of the world. HEV is a quasi-enveloped virus containing a linear, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome that contains three open reading frames (ORFs), namely, ORF1, ORF2 and ORF3. ORF2 encodes the ORF2 viral capsid protein, which is involved in particle assembly, binding to host cells and eliciting neutralizing antibodies. Recently, 3 different forms of the ORF2 capsid protein were identified: infectious/intracellular ORF2 (ORF2i), glycosylated ORF2 (ORF2g), and cleaved ORF2 (ORF2c). The ORF2i protein, for which the precise sequence has been identified, is the form that is associated with infectious particles and thus antibodies having specificity for the ORF2i protein would be suitable for the diagnosis of HEV. The present fulfills this need by providing an antibody which binds to the ORF2i protein of hepatitis E virus and wherein said antibody does not bind to the ORF2g protein nor to the ORF2c of hepatitis E virus, and wherein the epitope of said antibody comprises at least one amino acid residue from amino acid residues 10 to 23 of SEQ ID NO: 1.