title: The specific infectivity of hepatitis C virus changes through its life cycle.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes liver diseases, such as hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. To understand the life cycle and pathogenesis of HCV, the one-step growth of HCV in a cell culture system was analyzed using a highly infectious variant of the JFH1 clone. The observed profiles of HCV RNA replication indicated that the synthesis of negative-strand RNAs occurred at 6 h (h) after infection, followed by the active synthesis of positive-strand RNAs. Our measurements of infectious virus production showed that the latent period of HCV was about 12 h. The specific infectivity of HCV particles (focus-forming unit per viral RNA molecule) secreted to the extracellular milieu early in infection was about 30-fold higher than that secreted later during infection. The buoyant densities of the infectious virion particles differed with the duration of infection, indicating changes in the compositions of the virion particles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, POSTECH Biotech Center, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Ju
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Keum
authors.forename: Sung Mi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ji Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jong Ha
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Eun Ji
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Sung Key
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins