Genetic Analysis of Serum-Derived Defective Hepatitis C Virus Genomes Revealed Novel Viral cis Elements for Virus Replication and Assembly.

ABSTRACT: Defective viral genomes (DVGs) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) exist, but their biological significances have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we analyzed HCV DVGs circulating in patient sera that possess deletions in the structural protein-encoding region. About 30% of 41 HCV clinical isolates possess DVGs that originated from the full-length genome in the same patients. No correlation between DVGs, viremia, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels was found. Sequencing analysis of DVGs revealed the existence of deletion hot spots, with upstream sites in E1 and downstream sites in E2 and NS2. Interestingly, the coding sequences for the core protein and the C-terminal protease domain of NS2 were always intact in DVGs despite the fact that both proteins are dispensable for HCV genome rep

SUBMITTER: Li Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5972877 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature