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1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Nov 15;88(22):10292-6.Click here to read Links

Genomic structure of the human prototype strain H of hepatitis C virus: comparison with American and Japanese isolates.

Inchauspe G, Zebedee S, Lee DH, Sugitani M, Nasoff M, Prince AM.

Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, New York Blood Center, Laboratory of Virology and Parasitology, NY 10021.

Genomic RNA from the human prototype strain H of the hepatitis C virus (HCV-H) has been molecularly cloned and sequenced. The HCV-H sequence reported consists of 9416 nucleotides including the 5' and 3' untranslated regions. HCV-H shows 96% amino acid identity with the American isolate HCV-1 but only 84.9% with the Japanese isolates HCV-J and HCV-BK. In addition to the hypervariable region (region V) previously identified in the putative E2 domain, three other variable domains were identified: region V1 (putative E1), region V2 (putative E2), and region V3 (putative NS5). These regions appear rather conserved (86-100%) among the American isolates (HCV-1 and HC-J1) or among various Japanese isolates (HCV-J, HCV-BK, HCV-JH, and HC-J4) but show striking heterogeneity when the two subgroups are compared (42-87.5% amino acid difference). A structural similarity between the 5'-terminal hairpin structure of HCV and of poliovirus was observed. This study further suggests the existence of at least two genomic subtypes of HCV and confirms a distant relationship between HCV and pestiviruses.

PMID: 1658800 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC52914