title: Multiregion deep sequencing of hepatitis C virus: An improved approach for genetic relatedness studies.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health problem that affects more than 180 million people worldwide. Identification of HCV transmission networks is of critical importance for disease control. HCV related cases are often difficult to identify due to the characteristic long incubation period and lack of symptoms during the acute phase of the disease, making it challenging to link related cases to a common source of infection. Additionally, HCV transmission chains are difficult to trace back since viral variants from epidemiologically linked cases are genetically related but rarely identical. Genetic relatedness studies primarily rely on information obtained from the rapidly evolving HCV hypervariable region 1 (HVR1). However, in some instances, the rapid divergence of this region can lead to loss of genetic links between related isolates, which represents an important challenge for outbreak investigations and genetic relatedness studies. Sequencing of multiple and longer sub-genomic regions has been proposed as an alternative to overcome the limitations imposed by the rapid molecular evolution of the HCV HVR1. Additionally, conventional molecular approaches required to characterize the HCV intra-host genetic variation are laborious, time-consuming, and expensive while providing limited information about the composition of the viral population. Next generation sequencing (NGS) approaches enormously facilitate the characterization of the HCV intra-host population by detecting rare variants at much lower frequencies. Thus, NGS approaches using multiple sub-genomic regions should improve the characterization of the HCV intra-host population. Here, we explore the usefulness of multiregion sequencing using a NGS platform for genetic relatedness studies among HCV cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Institute of Bioscience, Language and Exact Science, São Paulo State University, São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Mexico City, Mexico. Electronic address: liv.rossi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Livia Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Gonçalves Rossi
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Escobar-Gutierrez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Institute of Bioscience, Language and Exact Science, São Paulo State University, São José do Rio Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rahal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D019562:Viral Load; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
keywords: Genetic relatedness; Hepatitis C virus; Multiregion; Next generation sequencing; Outbreak