Adapted hepatitis C virus clone infects innate immunity-deficient mouse hepatocytes with minimal human HCV entry factors.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a narrow species tropism and cannot infect mice. To understand HCV species tropism and to develop better animal models, we adapted HCV to infect mouse cells deficient in innate immunity and with minimal human HCV host factors.

Methods

HCV was adapted via passaging an HCV infectious virus clone several times in human hepatoma cells, mouse liver cells, and eventually primary mouse hepatocytes deficient in innate immunity and ectopically expressing human occludin and human CD81. Using RNAseq the sequence of the adapted virus was analyzed, and several clones were generated to study replication and infection kinetics as well as neutralization assays in several human/mouse cell lines and primary hepatocytes from human, mouse, and macaq

SUBMITTER: Sheldon JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11999267 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature