ABSTRACT
Objective To construct a fusion minigene expression vector of seven HCV NS3 epitopes and express the fusion gene in the eukaryotic cell line, in order to form a foundation for the investigation of the DNA immunization for HCV prevention. Methods Three pairs of complementary oligonucleotides primers covering all seven HCV NS3 epitopes were synthesized. Overlapping extension PCR were performed to construct the fusion minigene and cloned in pEGFP-N3 and pBuDCE vector respectively. The fusion protein was detected by Western blotting and flow cytometric analysis. The transfection efficiency was assessed with by flow cytometric analysis. Results The HCV NS3 epitope fusion minigene was obtained and inserted into pEGFP-N3 and pBuDCE vector respectively. The recombinant plasmid pEGFP-DR4 and pBuDCE-DR4 were expressed in 293T and 046W cell lines respectively. The Western blot result indicated that the expected 36 kDa minigene/EGFP fusion product was expressed from pEGFP-DR4, while 13kDa product from pBuDCE-DR4 respectively. Conclusion The HCV NS3 epitope fusion minigene was expressed in the eukaryocyte expression system.