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Ramirez S, Bukh J. Current status and future development of infectious cell-culture models for the major genotypes of hepatitis C virus: Essential tools in testing of antivirals and emerging vaccine strategies. Antiviral Res 2018; 158:264-287. [PMID: 30059723 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2018.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
In this review, we summarize the relevant scientific advances that led to the development of infectious cell culture systems for hepatitis C virus (HCV) with the corresponding challenges and successes. We also provide an overview of how these systems have contributed to the study of antiviral compounds and their relevance for the development of a much-needed vaccine against this major human pathogen. An efficient infectious system to study HCV in vitro, using human hepatoma derived cells, has only been available since 2005, and was limited to a single isolate, named JFH1, until 2012. Successive developments have been slow and cumbersome, as each available system has been the result of a systematic effort for discovering adaptive mutations conferring culture replication and propagation to patient consensus clones that are inherently non-viable in vitro. High genetic heterogeneity is a paramount characteristic of this virus, and as such, it should preferably be reflected in basic, translational, and clinical studies. The limited number of efficient viral culture systems, in the context of the vast genetic diversity of HCV, continues to represent a major hindrance for the study of this virus, posing a significant barrier towards studies of antivirals (particularly of resistance) and for advancing vaccine development. Intensive research efforts, driven by isolate-specific culture adaptation, have only led to efficient full-length infectious culture systems for a few strains of HCV genotypes 1, 2, 3, and 6. Hence research aimed at identifying novel strategies that will permit universal culture of HCV will be needed to further our understanding of this unique virus causing 400 thousand deaths annually.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santseharay Ramirez
- Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP), Department of Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital and Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jens Bukh
- Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP), Department of Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital and Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Wang SC, Lai KR, Li CY, Chiang CS, Yu GY, Sakamoto N, Tu WY, Hsieh MH, Huang JF, Chuang WL, Dai CY, Yu ML. The Paradoxical Effects of Different Hepatitis C Viral Loads on Host DNA Damage and Repair Abilities. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0164281. [PMID: 28052067 PMCID: PMC5215444 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2016] [Accepted: 09/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced hepatic stress is associated with increased oxidative DNA damage and has been implicated in hepatic inflammation. However, HCV infection and replication are uneven and vary among individual hepatocytes. To investigate the effect of the viral load on host DNA damage, we used an Enhanced Yellow Fluorescent Protein gene (EYFP)-tagged HCV virus to distinguish between HCV intracellular high viral load (HVL) cells and low viral load (LVL) cells. The cell sorting efficiency was confirmed by the high expression of the HCV polyprotein. We found DNA damage γ-H2AX foci in the HVL population. Comet assays demonstrated that HVL was related to the extent of the DNA strand breaks. Surprisingly, the DNA qPCR arrays and western blotting showed that the damage-related genes GPX2, MRE11, phospho-ATM, and OGG1 were significantly up-regulated in LVL cells but inversely down-regulated or consistently expressed in HVL cells. The colony survival assay to examine the repair abilities of these cells in response to irradiation showed that the LVL cells were more resistant to irradiation and had an increased ability to repair radiation-induced damage. This study found that intracellular viral loads drove cellular DNA damage levels but suppressed damage-related gene expression. However, the increase in damage-related gene expression in the LVL cells may be affected by ROS from the HVL cells. These findings provide new insights into the distinct DNA damage and repair responses resulting from different viral loads in HCV-infected cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Chi Wang
- Health Management Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Kuan-Ru Lai
- Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Yang Li
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Center for Infectious Disease and Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Chi-Shiun Chiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing-Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Guann-Yi Yu
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan
| | - Naoya Sakamoto
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Wen-Yu Tu
- Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Meng-Hsuan Hsieh
- Health Management Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Faculty of Medicine College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Jee-Fu Huang
- Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Wan-Long Chuang
- Center for Infectious Disease and Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Faculty of Medicine College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Yen Dai
- Health Management Center, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Center for Infectious Disease and Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Faculty of Medicine College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Lung Yu
- Center for Infectious Disease and Cancer Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Faculty of Medicine College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Center for Lipid and Glycomedicine Research, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
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Vieyres G, Pietschmann T. Entry and replication of recombinant hepatitis C viruses in cell culture. Methods 2012; 59:233-48. [PMID: 23009812 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2012.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2012] [Revised: 08/05/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive-strand enveloped RNA virus and belongs to the Flaviviridae family. The heavy health burden associated with the virus infection in humans and the intriguing peculiarities of the interaction between the HCV replication cycle and the hepatocyte host cell have stimulated a flourishing research field. The present review aims at recapitulating the different viral and cellular systems modelling HCV entry and replication, and in particular at gathering the tools available to dissect the HCV entry pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle Vieyres
- Institute of Experimental Virology, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research; A Joint Venture Between The Medical School Hannover and The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Feodor-Lynen-Straße 7-9, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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Development and application of hepatitis C reporter viruses with genotype 1 to 7 core-nonstructural protein 2 (NS2) expressing fluorescent proteins or luciferase in modified JFH1 NS5A. J Virol 2011; 85:8913-28. [PMID: 21697486 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00049-11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
To facilitate genotype-specific high-throughput studies of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we have developed reporter viruses using JFH1-based recombinants expressing core-nonstructural protein 2 (NS2) of genotype 1 to 7 prototype isolates. We introduced enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) into NS5A domain III of the genotype 2a virus J6/JFH1 [2a(J6)]. During Huh7.5 cell culture adaptation, 2a(J6)-EGFP acquired a 40-amino-acid (aa) (Δ40) or 25-aa (Δ25) deletion in NS5A domain II, rescuing the impairment of viral assembly caused by the EGFP insertion. Δ40 conferred efficient growth characteristics to 2a(J6) tagged with EGFP, DsRed-Express2, mCherry, or Renilla luciferase (RLuc), yielding peak supernatant infectivity titers of 4 to 5 log(10) focus-forming units (FFU)/ml. 2a(J6) with Δ40 or Δ25 was fully viable in Huh7.5 cells. In human liver chimeric mice, 2a(J6)-EGFPΔ40 acquired various deletions in EGFP, while 2a(J6)Δ40 did not show an impaired viability. We further developed panels of JFH1-based genotype 1 to 7 core-NS2 recombinants expressing EGFP- or RLuc-NS5AΔ40 fusion proteins. In cell culture, the different EGFP recombinants showed growth characteristics comparable to those of the nontagged recombinants, with peak infectivity titers of 4 to 5 log(10) FFU/ml. RLuc recombinants showed slightly less efficient growth characteristics, with peak infectivity titers up to 10-fold lower. Overall, the EGFP and RLuc recombinants were genetically stable after one viral passage. The usefulness of these reporter viruses for high-throughput fluorescence- and luminescence-based studies of HCV-receptor interactions and serum-neutralizing antibodies was demonstrated. Finally, using RLuc viruses, we showed that the genotype-specific core-NS2 sequence did not influence the response to alfa-2b interferon (IFN-alfa-2b) and that genotype 1 to 7 viruses all responded to treatment with p7 ion channel inhibitors.
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