The present disclosure relates to hepatitis C virus (HCV) core and minicore-binding molecules and nucleic acid sequences encoding such molecules. In particular embodiments, the present invention provides HCV core and minicore-binding molecules (e.g., monoclonal antibodies or antibody fragments) with particular light chain and/or heavy chain CDRs (e.g., selected from SEQ ID NOS: 2-4 and 6-8) and methods for using such molecules to detect the presence of HCV core proteins (e.g., mature p21 core protein or minicore proteins) in a sample.
