title: Detection of different quasispecies of hepatitis C virus core region in cancerous and noncancerous lesions.
abstract: The quasispecies of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core region in non-cancerous and cancerous hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions, respectively, of 7 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were studied. Multiple fluorescence based-polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single strand conformation polymorphism exhibited a different set and a larger number of quasispecies in cancerous portions than those in non-cancerous portions. DNA sequencing of PCR-amplified core region substantiated an accumulation of nucleotide substitutions, and a greater number of quasispecies in cancerous portions than those in non-cancerous portions. The deduced amino acid sequences disclosed that at the peptide position 45, Ser is dominant in non-cancerous lesions, and Gly in cancerous lesions, respectively. Thus, HCV in hepatocellular carcinoma includes a large number of specific quasispecies presumably due to their vigorous proliferation. A different set of quasispecies with the amino acid change is presumed to be related to the hepatocarcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Otsuka Department of Clinical and Molecular Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horie
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwahana
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Horie
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yogita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itakura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000382:microbiology*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins