Genetic Diversity and Selective Pressure in Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes 1-6: Significance for Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment and Drug Resistance.

ABSTRACT: Treatment with pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals, targeting different viral proteins, is the best option for clearing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in chronically infected patients. However, the diversity of the HCV genome is a major obstacle for the development of antiviral drugs, vaccines, and genotyping assays. In this large-scale analysis, genome-wide diversity and selective pressure was mapped, focusing on positions important for treatment, drug resistance, and resistance testing. A dataset of 1415 full-genome sequences, including genotypes 1-6 from the Los Alamos database, was analyzed. In 44% of all full-genome positions, the consensus amino acid was different for at least one genotype. Focusing on positions sharing the same consensus amino acid in all genotypes revealed th

SUBMITTER: Cuypers L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4584301 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature