Figure 3

Characterization of the purified HBcAg-EDIII-2 antigen. (A) The panel depicts VLPs formed by purified HBcAg-EDIII-2 protein (expressed in P.pastoris). Peaks 1 and 2 (shown in Figure 2B) were pooled, dialyzed, stained with 1% uranyl acetate and visualized under the electron microscope. (B) Electron microscopic visualization of the purified HBcAg carrier (expressed in E. coli). (C) Evaluation of the immunogenicity of the HBcAg-EDIII-2 antigen by ELISA. Antisera from mice immunized with the fusion antigen (solid red circles) and its precursors (HBcAg: empty black circles; EDIII-2: solid blue diamonds) were analyzed in an ELISA using recombinant EDIII-2 antigen (produced using P. pastoris) as the coating antigen.