title: A correlation between the heterogeneity of hypervariable region 1 of E2 glycoprotein of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV antibody profile: a case study.
abstract: A correlation between the heterogeneity of hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of E2 glycoprotein (gp) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody profile was investigated. Of 6 patients studied two were in acute phase, two in chronic phase and two showed signs of long-time HCV infection, i.e. liver cirrhosis. All the patients exhibited a vigorous antibody response to viral proteins C, NS3, NS4 and NS5. An antibody response to HVR1 of E2 was found in one patient in acute phase and in one or two patients in chronic phase. Such a response was not found in the two patients with liver cirrhosis. Single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and sequence analyses of HVR1 of E2 showed the lowest HVR1 heterogeneity in patients in acute phase and the highest one in those in chronic phase, while the long-time carriers of the virus showed an intermediate heterogeneity. This may reflect a specific interplay between the virus and immune system. The HVR1 heterogeneity may rise in the course of infection as a means of evading the immune pressure. Then, when an organism is unable to clear the virus, because the responses to HVR1 epitopes are weakened or exhausted, a population of less heterogeneous HVR1 variants may be established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, 6 Swiecickiego St., 60-781 Poznań, Poland. dkmiec@am.poznan.pl
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kmieciak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biernacka-Lukanty
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Migdalski
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Turek-Plewa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wierzbicki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juszczyk
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Trzeciak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C400562:HVR1 protein, Hepatitis C virus; C084422:NS3 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases; C093542:NS4 protein, hepatitis C virus; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase