Evaluation of hepatitis C virus protein epitopes for vaccine development.

Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) leads to viral persistence and chronic disease in a very high proportion of cases, despite a broad immunological response to viral proteins. These responses may thwarted by the high rate of mutation, which leads to the generation of 'escape' variants of HCV that persist as a quasi-species in infected individuals. The specificity of the immuno response of infected patients suggests that responses directed at certain viral epitopes may be associated with less aggressive disease and, possibly, good interferon response and virus clearance. The identification of such epitopes may hold the key for future development both of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.