Assembly of hepatitis C virus antigens expressed from a recombinant vaccinia virus

Recombinant vaccinia viruses that express a full-length Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome were constructed. Chimpanzee liver cells were infected with the recombinant viruses and analyzed by electron and immunoelectron microscopy. Three kinds of structures specific to recombinant HCV vaccinia infection were found in the cytoplasm of the infected cells. They are virus-like particles, clustered particles and high density reticular structures, the latter two of which are often fused together, indicating that they are related each other, Monoclonal antibodies against care, envelope and NS1 and human HCV antisera clearly stained the reticular structures, indicating that at least the reticular structures and perhaps the clustered particles are derived from HCV proteins.