title: Development of an infectious surrogate hepatitis C virus based on a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing hepatitis C virus envelope glycoproteins and green fluorescent protein.
abstract: To develop surrogate viruses for hepatitis C virus (HCV), we previously produced recombinant vesicular stomatitis viruses (rVSVs) lacking glycoprotein G but instead expressing chimeric HCV E1/E2 fused to G. These rVSVs were not infectious in HCV-susceptible hepatoma cells. In this study, to develop an infectious surrogate HCV based on an rVSV (vesicular stomatitis virus [VSV]/HCV), we generated a novel rVSV encoding the native E1/E2 (H77 strain) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) instead of G. Here, we showed that this VSV/HCV efficiently infected human hepatoma cells, including Huh7 human hepatoma cells, expressed GFP in these cells, and propagated, but did not do so in nonsusceptible BHK-21 cells. The infectivity of VSV/HCV, measured as the number of foci of GFP-positive cells, was specifically reduced by the addition of chimpanzee anti-HCV serum, anti-E2 antibody, or anti-CD81 antibody to the cultures. When sera obtained from HCV-infected or uninfected patients were added, infection was selectively inhibited only by the sera of HCV-infected patients. These data together suggest that this infectious GFP-expressing VSV/HCV could be a useful tool for studying the mechanisms of HCV entry into cells and for assessing potential inhibitors of viral entry, including neutralizing antibodies.
authors: Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
authors: Kazu
authors: K
authors: Okuma
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Fukagawa
authors: Seiji
authors: S
authors: Tateyama
authors: Takuya
authors: T
authors: Kohma
authors: Keiko
authors: K
authors: Mochida
authors: Masateru
authors: M
authors: Hiyoshi
authors: Youichi
authors: Y
authors: Takahama
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Hamaguchi
authors: Kunitaka
authors: K
authors: Hirose
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Buonocore
authors: John K
authors: JK
authors: Rose
authors: Toshiaki
authors: T
authors: Mizuochi
authors: Isao
authors: I
authors: Hamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D054243:Vesicular Stomatitis / Q000235:genetics*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; C091015:glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus