Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma

The 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains the internal ribosome entry site (IRES), a highly conserved RNA structure essential for cap-independent translation of the viral polyprotein. HCV, apart from the liver, is thought to be associated with lymphocyte subpopu...

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Main Authors: Luca Mercuri, Emma C. Thomson, Joseph Hughes, Peter Karayiannis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Advances in Virology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4835252
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author Luca Mercuri
Emma C. Thomson
Joseph Hughes
Peter Karayiannis
author_facet Luca Mercuri
Emma C. Thomson
Joseph Hughes
Peter Karayiannis
author_sort Luca Mercuri
collection DOAJ
description The 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains the internal ribosome entry site (IRES), a highly conserved RNA structure essential for cap-independent translation of the viral polyprotein. HCV, apart from the liver, is thought to be associated with lymphocyte subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), in lymph nodes and brain tissue. In this study, RT-PCR, cloning, and sequence analysis were employed to investigate the quasispecies nature of the 5’UTR following extraction of viral RNA from PBMCs and plasma of HCV infected individuals. The nucleotide variation between IRES-derived sequences from PBMCs and plasma indicated the existence of polymorphic sites within the IRES. HCV isolates had divergent variants with unique mutations particularly at positions 107, 204, and 243 of the IRES. Most of the PBMC-derived sequences contained an A-A-A variant at these positions. The mutations associated with the IRESes suggested the presence of unique quasispecies populations in PBMCs compared with plasma.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1687-8639
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spelling doaj-art-74c734b9d4064cc3b49a335bb3121d7d2025-08-20T03:34:09ZengWileyAdvances in Virology1687-86391687-86472018-01-01201810.1155/2018/48352524835252Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and PlasmaLuca Mercuri0Emma C. Thomson1Joseph Hughes2Peter Karayiannis3Hepatology Section, Division of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UKUniversity of Glasgow MRC Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UKUniversity of Glasgow MRC Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UKUniversity of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, CyprusThe 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains the internal ribosome entry site (IRES), a highly conserved RNA structure essential for cap-independent translation of the viral polyprotein. HCV, apart from the liver, is thought to be associated with lymphocyte subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), in lymph nodes and brain tissue. In this study, RT-PCR, cloning, and sequence analysis were employed to investigate the quasispecies nature of the 5’UTR following extraction of viral RNA from PBMCs and plasma of HCV infected individuals. The nucleotide variation between IRES-derived sequences from PBMCs and plasma indicated the existence of polymorphic sites within the IRES. HCV isolates had divergent variants with unique mutations particularly at positions 107, 204, and 243 of the IRES. Most of the PBMC-derived sequences contained an A-A-A variant at these positions. The mutations associated with the IRESes suggested the presence of unique quasispecies populations in PBMCs compared with plasma.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4835252
spellingShingle Luca Mercuri
Emma C. Thomson
Joseph Hughes
Peter Karayiannis
Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
Advances in Virology
title Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
title_full Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
title_fullStr Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
title_full_unstemmed Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
title_short Quasispecies Changes with Distinctive Point Mutations in the Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) Derived from PBMCs and Plasma
title_sort quasispecies changes with distinctive point mutations in the hepatitis c virus internal ribosome entry site ires derived from pbmcs and plasma
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/4835252
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