The human T- and B-cell lines HPBMa10-2 and Daudi produced infectious hepatitis C virus (HCV) for more than 1 year after infection. The infectivity titer of the cell culture-grown HCV and its genome titer were comparable. The virion density in sucrose was around 1.12 g/ml. Among the 13 variants detected in the inoculum, 7 were adsorbed by the cells and one particular HCV sequence which was pres...

BACKGROUND Ribavirin (RBV) is a potential partner of interferon-based therapy and recently approved therapy using direct acting antivirals for patients with chronic hepatitis C. However, the precise mechanisms underlying RBV action against hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication are not yet understood. To clarify this point, we attempted to develop RBV-resistant cells from RBV-sensitive HCV RNA-rep...

Here, we analyze the viral divergence among HCV chronic cases infected with genotype 25 1. The intrahost viral evolution was assessed by deep sequencing using the 454 Genome 26 Sequencer platform. The results showed a rapid nucleotide sequence divergence. This notorious 27 short-term viral evolution is of the utmost importance for the study of HCV transmission because 28 direct links between re...

background the molecular mechanism of hepatitis c-virus (hcv) genome-specific pathogenesis remains unclear. oxidative stress is an important pathophysiological mechanism in chronic hcv infection, but its relation to hcv genotypes has not been thoroughly examined. objectives in the present case-control study, the effect of diverse hcv genotypes on oxidative status changes was investigated. patie...

A defective hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome in the ascitic fluid of a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma was cloned and sequenced up to the 3' poly(U) stretch. When compared with the published Taiwanese HCV sequence, this defective genome contained deletions of single nucleotides at eight sites, double nucleotides at two sites, triple nucleotides at four sites, quadruple nucleotides at one si...

All of the previously reported recombinant RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp), the NS5B enzymes, of hepatitis C virus (HCV) could function only in a primer-dependent and template-nonspecific manner, which is different from the expected properties of the functional viral enzymes in the cells. We have now expressed a recombinant NS5B that is able to synthesize a full-length HCV genome in a temp...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication depends on viral protein association with intracellular membranes, but the influence of membrane composition on viral replication is unclear. We report that HCV RNA replication and assembly of the viral replication complex require geranylgeranylation of one or more host proteins. In cultured hepatoma cells, HCV RNA replication was disrupted by treatment w...

We compared four primer sets from conserved regions of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome for their ability to detect HCV RNA in a "nested" cDNA polymerase chain reaction assay on sera from 114 anti-HCV antibody-positive individuals from around the world. The different primer sets had equivalent sensitivity, detecting less than 1 chimpanzee ID50 (dose that infects 50%) when tested against refer...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global health problem. There is no effective vaccine and the current treatment regimen with pegylated interferon α and ribavirin is associated with significant adverse events. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new antiviral targets for HCV therapy. In recent years, a growing number of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to be able to r...

INTRODUCTION In hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related mixed cryoglobulinemia (MCG), the nonenveloped HCV core protein (HCV-Cp) is a constituent of the characteristic cold-precipitating immune complexes (ICs). A possible correlation between HCV-Cp, virologic, laboratory, and clinical parameters in both untreated MCG patients and those undergoing specific treatment was explored. METHODS HCV-Cp was qu...