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>February 09, 2001 > > > > >- Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -- > >Hepatitis C virus (HCV), with its many genotypes, is >complicated to culture in vitro, thus the difficulty >with developing a vaccine for this infection in >humans. Researchers in Germany now report they have >grown subgenomic HCV for more than a year in cells >cultured in the laboratory. > >The report was issued in the February 2001 Journal of >Virology , where researchers at Johannes-Gutenberg >University of Mainz described their work on two >replicon-harboring cell lines. > >Their work grew out of previous reports of the >successful culture of subgenomic HCV RNA in Huh-7 >cells. Huh-7 is a human hepatoma cell line. > >"Taking advantage of this cell culture system that >allows analyses of the interplay between HCV >replication and the host cell, in this study we >characterized two replicon-harboring cell lines that >have been cultivated for more than one year," said >Thomas Pietschmann et al. > >Pietschmann's research team did not observe >cytopathogenicity, which would have resulted in >limited proliferation or morphological changes, they >said ("Characterization of cell lines carrying >self-replicating hepatitis C virus RNAs," J Virol , >2001;75(3):1252-1264). > >The group noticed a positive relationship between >selective pressure and replicon levels. Yet, even when >selective pressure did decrease, RNA replication >continued for as long as 10 months in some instances. > >There was also a significant correlation between HCV >RNA and protein levels and proliferation. "Highest >levels were found in exponentially growing cells, >followed by a sharp decline in resting cells, >suggesting that cellular factors required for RNA >replication and/or translation vary in abundance and >become limiting in resting cells," reported >Peitschmann et al. > >In-depth analysis of cellular characteristics with the >use of immunoelectron microscopy was highly suggestive >of the importance of the endoplasmic reticulum for HCV >replication. > >This model, suggested Pietschmann et al., is >beneficial for the study of HCV. > >The corresponding author for this study is Thomas >Pietschmann, Institute for Virology, >Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz, 55131 Mainz, >Germany.

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