Diversity of amino acid sequences within the HCV E2 protein in serum and PBMC
MW Welker, C Welsch, D Ochs, E Herrmann, R Hartmann, S Zeuzem, C Sarrazin, B Kronenberger · Zeitschrift für Gastroenterologie · 2009 · Heft 01
Bibliografische Angaben
Zusammenfassung
Introduction: HCV infects hepatocytes, but is a potential lymphotropic virus either. Interaction between the HCV envelope (E) protein 2 and CD81 is essential for cell entry. Two putative CD81 binding regions (CD81-1/-2) within HCV E2 have been described. Variants with enhanced binding affinity to CD81 may be identified by analysis of inter- and intra-patient variability of CD81–1/2 in PBMC and serum derived HCV-RNA. Patients and Methods: 37 patients (f=20, m=17; mean age, 44 years) chronically infected with HCV genotype (GT) 1a (n=21, mean viral load [mvl] 6.0 logIU/ml) or 1b (n=16, mvl 5.9 logIU/ml) were invest…
