Repeated exposure to heterologous hepatitis C viruses associates with enhanced neutralizing antibody breadth and potency.

ABSTRACT: A prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine that elicits neutralizing antibodies could be key to HCV eradication. However, the genetic and antigenic properties of HCV envelope (E1E2) proteins capable of inducing anti-HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in humans have not been defined. Here, we investigated the development of bNAbs in longitudinal plasma of HCV-infected persons with persistent infection or spontaneous clearance of multiple reinfections. By measuring plasma antibody neutralization of a heterologous virus panel, we found that the breadth and potency of the antibody response increased upon exposure to multiple genetically distinct infections and with longer duration of viremia. Greater genetic divergence between infecting strains was not associated with enhanced neu

SUBMITTER: Frumento N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9337827 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature