Development of an Infectious Surrogate Hepatitis C Virus Based on a Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Expressing Hepatitis C Virus Envelope Glycoproteins and Green Fluorescent Protein

作者：Okuma Kazu^*; Fukagawa Koji; Tateyama Seiji; Kohma Takuya; Mochida Keiko; Hiyoshi Masateru; Takahama Youichi; Hamaguchi Yukio; Hirose Kunitaka; Buonocore Linda; Rose John K; Mizuochi Toshiaki; Hamaguchi Isao

来源：Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2015, 68(3): 203-208.

DOI：10.7883/yoken.JJID.2014.328

To develop surrogate viruses for hepatitis C virus (HCV), we previously produced recombinant vesicular stomatitis viruses (rVSVs) lacking glycoprotein G but instead expressing chimeric HCV El /E2 fused to G. These rVSVs were not infectious in HCV-susceptible hepatoma cells. In this study, to develop an infectious surrogate HCV based on an rVSV (vesicular stomatitis virus [VSV]/HCV), we generated a novel rVSV encoding the native E1/E2 (H77 strain) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) instead of G. Here, we showed that this VSV/HCV efficiently infected human hepatoma cells, including Huh7 human hepatoma cells, expressed GFP in these cells, and propagated, but did not do so in non-susceptible BHK-21 cells. The infectivity of VSV/HCV, measured as the number of foci of GFP-positive cells, was specifically reduced by the addition of chimpanzee anti-HCV serum, anti-E2 antibody, or anti-CD81 antibody to the cultures. When sera obtained from HCV-infected or uninfected patients were added, infection was selectively inhibited only by the sera of HCV-infected patients. These data together suggest that this infectious GFP-expressing VSV/HCV could be a useful tool for studying the mechanisms of HCV entry into cells and for assessing potential inhibitors of viral entry, including neutralizing antibodies.

• 出版日期2015-5