Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
The tandem-repeat polymorphism of the DC-SIGNR gene in HCV infection
J Nattermann1, G Ahlenstiel, T Berg
1Department of Internal Medicine I, Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany. jacob.nattermann@ukb.uni-bonn.de
Abstract:
The C-type lectin DC-SIGNR has been shown to bind hepatitis C virus (HCV). Here, we analysed the tandem-repeat polymorphism of the DC-SIGNR gene with respect to intraindividual HCV replication. In a cross-sectional comparison HCV-infected patients (n = 430) and healthy subjects (n = 100) were genotyped for the DC-SIGNR polymorphism using PCR. The distribution of DC-SIGNR alleles did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, HCV-infected patients with 5-, 6-, and 7-repeat alleles had higher HCV-RNA levels when compared with carriers of 4- and 9-repeat alleles (P < 0.05). Thus, the DC-SIGNR polymorphism might affect HCV loads supporting the concept that DC-SIGNR contributes to HCV replication efficacy.
Related Concept Videos
Hepatitis
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs

