Abstract
HCV infection provides a classic example of the phenomenon of quasispecies. Because several lines of investigation support the contribution of quasispecies to HCV’s capacity to maintain a persistent infection, adequate characterization of the quasispecies is important. The hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the E2 glycoprotein has been particularly well studied in this regard. We present here a rapid method for characterizing the HVR1 quasispecies, based on in vitro coupled transcription/translation of the amplicons, followed by mass spectrometry of the resulting peptide mix.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Holland, J. J., De La Torre, J. C., and Steinhauer, D. A. (1992) RNA virus populations as quasispecies. Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 176, 1–20.
Eigen, M., and Biebricher, C. (1988) Sequence space and quasispecies distribution, in RNA Genetics (Domingo, E., ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 211–245.
Bukh, J., Miller, R. H., and Purcell, R. H. (1995) Genetic heterogeneity of hepatitis C virus: quasispecies and genotypes. Semin. Liver Dis. 15, 41–63.
Taniguchi, S., Okamoto, H., Sakamoto, M., Kojima, M., Tsuda, F., Tanaka, T., et al. (1993) A structurally flexible and antigenically variable N-terminal domain of the hepatitis C virus E2/NS1 protein: implication for an escape from antibody. Virology 195, 297–301.
Forns, X., Thimme, R., Govindarajan, S., Emerson, S. U., Purcell, R. H., Chisari, F. V.,et al. (2000) Hepatitis C virus lacking the hypervariable region 1 of the second envelope protein is infectious and causes acute resolving or persistent infection in chimpanzees. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 13318–13323.
Farci, P., Shimoda, A., Wong, D., Cabezon, T., De Gioannis, D., Strazzera, A., et al. (1996) Prevention of hepatitis C virus infection in chimpanzees by hyperimmune serum against the hypervariable region 1 of the envelope 2 protein. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 15394–15399.
Farci, P., Alter, H. J., Wong, D. C., Miller,R. H., Govindarajan, S., Engle, R., et al. (1994) Prevention of hepatitis C virus infection in chimpanzees after antibody-mediated in vitro neutralization. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 7792–7796.
Farci, P., and Purcell, R. H. (2000) Clinical significance of hepatitis C virus genotypes and quasispecies. Semin. Liver Dis. 20, 103–126.
Shimizu, Y. K., Hijikata, M., Iwamoto, A., Alter, H. J., Purcell, R. H., and Yoshikura, H. (1994) Neutralizing antibodies against hepatitis C virus and the emergence of neutralization escape mutant viruses. J. Virol. 68, 1494–1500.
Farci, P., Shimoda, A., Coiana, A., Diaz, G., Peddis, G., Melpolder, J. C., et al. (2000) The outcome of acute hepatitis C predicted by the evolution of the viral quasispecies. Science 288, 339–344.
Farci, P., Strazzera, R., Alter, H. J., Farci, S., Degioannis, D., Coiana, A., et al. (2002) Early changes in hepatitis C viral quasispecies during interferon therapy predict the therapeutic outcome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 3081–3086.
Polevoda, B., and Sherman, F. (2000) Nα-terminal acetylation of eukaryotic proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 275, 36479–36482.
Qin, J., and Chait, B. T. (1997) Identification and characterization of posttranslational modifications of proteins by MALDI ion trap mass spectrometry. Anal. Chem. 69, 4002–4009.
Ayers, M., Siu, K., Roberts, E., Garvin,A. M., and Tellier, R.. (2002) Characterization of hepatitis C virus quasispecies by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (mass spectrometry) mutation detection. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40, 3455–3462.
Logel, J., Dill, D., and Leonard, S. (1992) Synthesis of cRNA probes from PCR-generated DNA. Biotechniques 13, 604–610.
Yea, C., Bukh, J., Ayers, M., Roberts, E.,Krajden, M., and Tellier, R. (2007) Monitoring of hepatitis C virus quasispecies in chronic infection by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry mutation detection. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45, 1053–1057.
Yanagi, M,, Purcell, R. H., Emerson, S. U., and Bukh, J. (1997) Transcripts from a single full-length cDNA clone of hepatitis C virus are infectious when directly transfected into the liver of a chimpanzee. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 8738–8743.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Canadian Liver Foundation, and the Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Yea, C., Ayers, M., Tellier, R. (2009). Characterization of HCV Quasispecies in the Hypervariable Region 1 (HVR 1) by In Vitro Translation and Mass Spectrometry. In: Tang, H. (eds) Hepatitis C. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 510. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-394-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-394-3_6
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-970-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-394-3
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols