Combination of Epstein-Barr virus scaffold (BdRF1/VCA-p40) and small capsid protein (BFRF3/VCA-p18) into a single molecule for improved serodiagnosis of acute and malignant EBV-driven disease

A recent study described a synthetic peptide-based IgA/[EBNA1+VCA-p18]-ELISA (IgA/EBV-ELISA), with a sensitivity of 90% for diagnosing nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Immunoblot analysis of biopsy-confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases with low or negative IgA/EBV-ELISA showed 100% IgG reactivity to VCA-p40 and VCA-p18 proteins. Evaluation of VCA-p40+18 as an additional marker for screening and diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was carried out. The data showed positive IgA/VCA-p40+18 reactivity by ELISA for 63.6% (14 of 22) nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples that were missed by peptide-based IgA/EBV-ELISA, suggested VCA-p40+18 as an improved marker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma serodiagnosis. The VCA-p40+18 may be combined with an EBNA1 synthetic peptide as an antigen mixture in one or separate IgA ELISA for improved nasopharyngeal carcinoma serodiagnosis.