Sequence diversity of hepatitis C viral genomes.
The nucleotide sequences of cDNAs (275 base-pairs) in the non-structural protein 5 regions of Japanese isolates of hepatitis C virus (HCV-J) from the plasma of 11 patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis and the livers of five patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed. Approximately 14 to 17% of nucleotide sequences of the HCV-Js examined differed from that of the original isolate in the United States (HCV-US). Furthermore, 2.5 to 11% sequence diversity was found among the HCV-Js. The nucleotide sequences of the HCV-Js showed characteristic common differences from that of HCV-US, although they also showed some random substitutions. Plural HCV-J genomes were found in two of the cDNAs derived from liver specimens, and a deletion of 102 nucleotides was found in the cDNA derived from one plasma specimen. These results suggest that HCV-J is a strain different from the HCV-US and that mutation of the viral genome occurs at as high a frequency as in that of the human immunodeficiency virus.
Kato
N
N
Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Hijikata
M
M
Ootsuyama
Y
Y
Nakagawa
M
M
Ohkoshi
S
S
Shimotohno
K
K
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004247:DNA