title: Virion-independent transfer of replication-competent hepatitis C virus RNA between permissive cells.
abstract: In this study, we show that replication-competent subgenomic hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA can be transferred to permissive Huh7 cells, leading to the establishment of viral RNA replication. Further, we show that these events are mediated by exosomes rather than infectious virus particles. If similar events occur in vivo, this could represent a novel, albeit inefficient, mechanism of viral spread and immune escape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA fchisari@scripps.edu andrea.longatti@alumni.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longatti
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA fchisari@scripps.edu andrea.longatti@alumni.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Francis V
authors.initials: FV
authors.lastname: Chisari
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002460:Cell Line; D055354:Exosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral