Juridical Foundation the Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute

Science and Technology Agency, Minister's Secretariat Director of

Kenichi Matsubara

Atsushi Miyanohara

Chikateru Nozaki

Fukusaburo Hamada

Nobuya Ohtomo

Akio Toh-e

A shuttle vector containing an yeast gene and an E. coli gene and carrying the expression control region of acid phosphatase gene of yeast, which can be recombined with various genes under control of the phosphatase promoter, to give various recombinant plasmids. The shuttle vector is useful in genetic engineering industries.

Shuttle vector

A recombinant DNA comprising 3 fragments of Hepatitis B virus DNA recombined with a vector consisting essentially of 0.31 Kb replication orgin of SV40 DNA inserted into EcoRI cleavage site of Escherichia coli plasmid which is deficient in the 1.426-2.521 Kb region of inhibiting replication in mammalian cells, wherein each HBV DNA fragment is a 3.2 Kb BamHI fragment consisting of 1.9 Kb HBc gene and 1.3 Kb HBs gene, and said HBV DNA fragments are arranged in a head-to-tail tandem relationship wherein the HBc gene positions at the head and the HBs gene positions at the tail, mammalian cells transformed with the recombinant DNA, and a method of production of Hepatitis B virus proteins, i.e. HBsAg and/or HBeAg. These HBV proteins have the same immunological properties as those of the natural HBV proteins originated from human blood plasma and can be used for the preparation of HBV vaccine and diagnostic reagents.

Recombinant DNA inserted with hepatitis B virus gene, mammalian cells

A recombinant plasmid inserted with Hepatitis B virus gene, which comprises a plasmid vector containing a yeast gene and an E. coli gene and carrying the expression control region of the repressible acid phosphatase gene of yeast and a Hepatitis B virus gene recombined thereto under control of the phosphatase promoter, a transformed yeast which is prepared by transforming a yeast with the recombinant plasmid, and a method of the production of Hepatitis B virus surface antigen in a large scale by culturing the transformed yeast in a medium. The Hepatitis B virus surface antigen prepared by the present invention has the same immunological properties as those of the natural antigen from human blood plasma and is useful for the preparation of Hepatitis B virus vaccine and diagnostic reagents.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Kenichi Matsubara