Transcriptional response to hepatitis C virus infection and interferon-alpha treatment in the human liver.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is widely used to investigate host-virus interactions. Cellular responses to HCV infection have been extensively studied in vitro However, in human liver, interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene expression can mask direct transcriptional responses to infection. To better characterize the direct effects of HCV infection in vivo, we analyze the transcriptomes of HCV-infected patients lacking an activated endogenous IFN system. We show that expression changes observed in these patients predominantly reflect immune cell infiltrates rather than cell-intrinsic pathways. We also investigate the transcriptomes of patients with endogenous IFN activation, which paradoxically cannot eradicate viral infection. We find that most IFN-stimulated genes are induced by both re

SUBMITTER: Boldanova T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5452008 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature