title: Hepatitis C virus antigenic convergence.
abstract: Vaccine development against hepatitis C virus (HCV) is hindered by poor understanding of factors defining cross-immunoreactivity among heterogeneous epitopes. Using synthetic peptides and mouse immunization as a model, we conducted a quantitative analysis of cross-immunoreactivity among variants of the HCV hypervariable region 1 (HVR1). Analysis of 26,883 immunological reactions among pairs of peptides showed that the distribution of cross-immunoreactivity among HVR1 variants was skewed, with antibodies against a few variants reacting with all tested peptides. The HVR1 cross-immunoreactivity was accurately modeled based on amino acid sequence alone. The tested peptides were mapped in the HVR1 sequence space, which was visualized as a network of 11,319 sequences. The HVR1 variants with a greater network centrality showed a broader cross-immunoreactivity. The entire sequence space is explored by each HCV genotype and subtype. These findings indicate that HVR1 antigenic diversity is extensively convergent and effectively limited, suggesting significant implications for vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Epidemiology & Bioinformatics Laboratory, Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Campo
authors.forename: Zoya
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dimitrova
authors.forename: Jonny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yokosawa
authors.forename: Duc
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.forename: Nestor O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Sumathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramachandran
authors.forename: Yury
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Khudyakov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens