Description
• Measures the core antigen of Hepatitis C virus
• Sensitive to as low as 1 ng/mL
• Recombinant HCVcAg standard included
An anti-HCVcAg monoclonal coating antibody is adsorbed onto a microtiter plate. HCV core antigen present in the sample or standard binds to the antibodies adsorbed on the plate; a FITC-conjugated mouse anti-HCVcAg antibody is added and binds to the antigen captured by the first antibody. Following incubation and wash steps, a HRP-conjugated mouse anti-FITC antibody is added and binds to the FITC conjugated anti-HCVcAg. Following unbound HRP-conjugated mouse anti-FITC antibody is removed during a wash step, and substrate solution reactive with HRP is added to the wells. A colored product is formed in proportion to the amount of HCV core antigen present in the sample. The reaction is terminated by addition of acid and absorbance is measured at 450 nm. A standard curve is prepared from recombinant HCV core antigen and sample concentration is then determined.
Introduction: Hepatitis C is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. HCV is transmitted by exposure to infectious blood; forms of transmission include unprotected sexual activity, blood transfusion, mother-to-infant transmission, or occupational exposure to blood. The acute illness causes liver inflammation, liver fibrosis, vomiting and jaundice, while chronic HCV infection often leads to liver cirrhosis and failure. An estimated 270-300 million people worldwide have been infected with hepatitis C. At least 75% of people infected will develop chronic hepatitis C and have it the rest of their lives. Diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has long been based on HCV serology and detection of HCV antibodies. With the development of therapies for chronic HCV infection, including interferon and ribavirin, quantitative detection of HCV has been used increasingly as the most important marker for monitoring HCV titer, disease progression, and assessing antiviral treatment. Several assays for the quantitative measurement of HCV DNA have been developed, such as PCR-based nucleic acid amplification assays. However, these methods tend to be cumbersome and expensive. MyBioSource's QuickTiter HCV Core Antigen ELISA Kit is an enzyme immunoassay developed for detection and quantitation of the HCV core protein. A mouse monoclonal antibody to HCVcAg is coated onto strip wells of microtiter plate. The quantity of HCV core antigen in the sample is determined by comparing its absorbance with that of known recombinant HCV core antigen standard curve. The kit has detection sensitivity limit of 1 ng /mL HCVcAg. Each kit provides sufficient reagents to perform up to 96 assays including standard curve and HCV samples