A graph consists of a set of vertices (nodes) and a set of edges (line connecting vertices). Two graphs pack when they have the same number of vertices and we can put them in the same vertex set without overlapping edges. Studies such as Sauer and Spencer [7], Bollobás and Eldridge [1], Kostochka and Yu [6], have shown sufficient conditions, specifically relations between number of edges in the...

Accumulating evidence indicates that neutralizing antibodies play an important role in protection from chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Efforts to elicit such responses by immunization with intact heterodimeric E1E2 envelope proteins have met with limited success. To determine whether antigenic sites, which are not exposed by the combined E1E2 heterodimer structure, are capable of eli...

hepatitis c virus (hcv) is an important agent causing chronic liver infection, which often leads to liver cirrhosis and lethal hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc). at present, there is no effective hcv vaccine for prevention of hepatic disease and the standard treatment is neither economical nor fully effective in all the patients. however, vaccination based on structural and nonstructural proteins ...

A novel and broadly applicable strategy combining site-directed mutagenesis and DNA assembly for constructing seamless viral chimeras is described using hepatitis C virus (HCV) as an exemplar. Full-length HCV genomic cloning cassettes, which contained flexibly situated restriction endonuclease sites, were prepared via a single, site-directed mutagenesis reaction and digested to receive PCR-ampl...

Little is known about the structure of the envelope glycoproteins of hepatitis C virus (HCV). To identify new regions essential for the function of these glycoproteins, we generated HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) containing HCV envelope glycoproteins, E1 and E2, from different genotypes in order to detect intergenotypic incompatibilities between these two proteins. Several genotype combinations we...

The humoral immune system responds to chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by producing neutralising antibodies (nAb). In this study we generated three HCV pseudoparticles in which E1E2 glycoprotein sequence was targeted by the host humoral immune system. We used patient derived virus free Fabs (VF-Fabs) obtained from HCV genotype 1a (n = 3), genotype 1b (n = 7) and genotype 3a (n = 1) for...

A critical first step in a "rational vaccine design" approach for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is to identify the most relevant mechanisms of immune protection. Emerging evidence provides support for a protective role of virus neutralizing antibodies, and the ability of the B cell response to modify the course of acute HCV infection. This has been made possible by the development of in vitro cell cu...

In situ and in vitro studies with a 3 x 2 x 5 factorial arrangement of treatments with an added untreated control evaluated three enzyme preparations, two levels of enzyme, and five moisture conditions of grass forage. Enzyme preparations predominantly contained cellulase and xylanase and will be designated as enzyme 1 (E1), enzyme 2 (E2), and a 50:50 combination of E1 and E2 (E1E2). The five m...

Plasmids expressing different domains of the hepatis C virus (HCV) envelope E2 glycoprotein from a genotype 1a isolate were constructed to compare the immunogenic potential of E2 in nucleic acid-based immunizations. One plasmid, pCIE2t, expressed a C-terminally truncated form of E2, while others, pS2.SE2A to pS2.SE2E, encoded the adjacent 60-amino-acid (aa) sequences of E2 (inserts A to E) expr...