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Cell Culture Systems for Propagation of HCV

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Hepatitis C Virus I

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Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is seen worldwide and is a significant cause of severe chronic liver diseases. Recently, a large number of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been developed against HCV infection, resulting in significant improvements in treatment efficacy. Rapid progress in HCV research has been largely dependent of the development of HCV culture systems and small animal infection models. In the development of HCV cell culture systems, the discovery of the JFH-1 clone, an HCV strain isolated from a fulminant hepatitis C patient, was a key finding. The JFH-1 strain was the first infectious HCV strain belonging to genotype 2a. JFH-1 replicated efficiently in cultured cell lines without acquiring adaptive mutations, providing the secretion of infectious viral particles into the culture medium. Other HCV strains, including JFH-2, that also were reported to be infectious in cultured cells. However, these other isolates proved to require adaptive mutations for replication. These infectious HCV systems has provided a powerful tool to study the viral life cycle, to construct anti-viral strategies, and to develop effective vaccines.

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Abbreviations

DAAs:

Direct-acting antivirals

HCV:

Hepatitis C virus

LD:

Lipid droplet

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

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Acknowledgement

The author thanks Dr. Senko Tsukuda for her contribution for illustration. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research 24115003 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan

    Takaji Wakita M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Takaji Wakita M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Takaji Wakita M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Tatsuo Miyamura

  2. Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology , The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Stanley M. Lemon

  3. Center for Vaccines and Immunity, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Christopher M. Walker

  4. National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Takaji Wakita

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Wakita, T. (2016). Cell Culture Systems for Propagation of HCV. In: Miyamura, T., Lemon, S., Walker, C., Wakita, T. (eds) Hepatitis C Virus I. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56098-2_4

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