title: Hypervariable regions in the putative glycoprotein of hepatitis C virus.
abstract: A comparison of the sequences of the putative glycoprotein region in three independent cDNA clones of hepatitis C virus and of sequences of four other clones revealed extensive genetic variation clustered and interspersed with highly conserved amino acid sequences. We obtained evidence for two hypervariable regions in the putative envelope glycoprotein, one region was assumed to be a potential antigenic site, as deduced from the hydrophilicity and analyses of secondary structures. These observations suggest the existence of a large pool of antigenic variants of hepatitis C virus, in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hijikata
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ootsuyama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohkoshi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimotohno
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015723:Gene Library; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins