Robust hepatitis C virus infection in vitro.

Zhong, Jin; Gastaminza, Pablo; Cheng, Guofeng; Kapadia, Sharookh; Kato, Takanobu; Burton, Dennis R; Wieland, Stefan F; Uprichard, Susan L et al. · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2005

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The absence of a robust cell culture model of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has severely limited analysis of the HCV life cycle and the development of effective antivirals and vaccines. Here we report the establishment of a simple yet robust HCV cell culture infection system based on the HCV JFH-1 molecular clone and Huh-7-derived cell lines that allows the production of virus that can be efficiently propagated in tissue culture. This system provides a powerful tool for the analysis of host-virus interactions that should facilitate the discovery of antiviral drugs and vaccines for this important human pathogen.

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