Kato Takanobu, Wakita Takaji
Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Tokyo.
Uirusu. 2005 Dec;55(2):287-95. doi: 10.2222/jsv.55.287.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health problem, infecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. Current therapy for HCV-related chronic hepatitis is based on the use of interferon. However, virus clearance rates are insufficient. Investigations to develop the anti-viral therapy or to understand the life cycle of this virus have been hampered by the lack of viral culture systems. We isolated the JFH-1 strain from a patient with fulminant hepatitis, and the JFH-1 subgenomic replicon could replicate efficiently in culture cell without adaptive mutation. Recently, we developed the HCV infection system in culture cells with this JFH-1 strain. The full-length JFH-1 RNA was transfected into Huh7 cells. Subsequently, viral RNA efficiently replicated in transfected cells and viral particles were secreted. Furthermore, secreted virus displayed infectivity for naive Huh7 cells. This system provides a powerful tool for studying the viral life cycle and constructing anti-viral strategies.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是一个重大的公共卫生问题，全球估计有1.7亿人受到感染。目前针对HCV相关慢性肝炎的治疗基于干扰素的使用。然而，病毒清除率并不理想。由于缺乏病毒培养系统，开发抗病毒疗法或了解该病毒生命周期的研究受到了阻碍。我们从一名暴发性肝炎患者中分离出JFH-1毒株，并且JFH-1亚基因组复制子能够在培养细胞中高效复制而无需适应性突变。最近，我们利用该JFH-1毒株在培养细胞中建立了HCV感染系统。将全长JFH-1 RNA转染到Huh7细胞中。随后，病毒RNA在转染细胞中高效复制，并且病毒颗粒被分泌出来。此外，分泌出的病毒对未感染的Huh7细胞具有感染性。该系统为研究病毒生命周期和构建抗病毒策略提供了一个强大的工具。
