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Divergent evolution of hepatitis C virus in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of infected patients
Author(s) -
Maggi Fabrizio,
Fornai Claudia,
Morrica Antonietta,
Vatteroni Maria Linda,
Giorgi Massimo,
Marchi Santino,
Ciccorossi Pietro,
Bendinelli Mauro,
Pistello Mauro
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199901)57:1<57::aid-jmv8>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - viral quasispecies , hypervariable region , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , virology , biology , hepatitis c virus , virus , population , hepacivirus , flaviviridae , viral disease , immunology , gene , genetics , medicine , in vitro , environmental health
In infected individuals, hepatitis C virus (HCV) exists as a variably complex population of related genetic variants known as quasispecies. The quasispecies of HCV were studied previously in 10 chronically infected patients by single‐strand conformation polymorphism analysis of a segment of the envelope gene E2/NS1 containing the hypervariable region 1 and it was found that certain variants (LC variants) were present both in the liver and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), others (L variants) were present in the liver but not in the PBMC, and still others (C variants) showed the opposite distribution. The sequence data obtained from nine such patients are reported, indicating that, within individual subjects, L and C variants are distinct phylogenetically. Results are described on the growth of HCV in stimulated healthy donor PBMC cultures supporting the concept that genetic divergence might stem, at least in part, from virus adaptation to growth in different cell types. This information may help to understand how HCV persists and produces disease in infected patients, especially with regard to extrahepatic pathology. J. Med. Virol. 57:57–63, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.