The present invention relates to a method for purifying recombinant HCV single
or specific oligomeric envelope proteins selected from the group consisting of
E1 and/or E1/E2, characterized in that upon lysing the transformed host cells to
isolate the recombinantly expressed protein a disulphide bond cleavage or reduction
step is carried out with a disulphide bond cleavage agent. The present invention
also relates to a composition isolated by such a method. The present invention
also relates to the diagnostic and therapeutic application of these compositions.
Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of HCV E1 protein and peptides for
prognosing and monitoring the clinical effectiveness and/or clinical outcome of
HCV treatment.
