Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026

A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Published on: August 31, 2014
Influence of specific CD4+ T cells and antibodies on evolution of hypervariable region 1 during acute HCV infection
Cristiano Scottà1, Anna Rosa Garbuglia, Lionello Ruggeri
1Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology,"La Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
Background/Aims:
Several studies suggest that the evolutionary rate of HVR1 sequence in acute HCV hepatitis derives from the action of a continuous immune-driven positive selection. However, these studies have not been performed examining the relationship between HVR1 evolution and the development of specific immunity to autologous HVR1 sequences.
Methods:
We performed a longitudinal analysis of HVR1 sequences and specific antibodies and CD4+ T cells in ten HCV acutely infected patients with different clinical outcomes (recovery versus persistence).
Results:
We showed that although both recovered and chronically evolving individuals developed IFN-gamma+ T cells specific for Core and NS sequences, HVR1-specific CD4+ T cells were detected only in patients clearing the virus. On the contrary, all patients displayed anti-HVR1 antibodies that recognized sequences exclusively carried by autologous viruses. Measurements of genetic diversity and the number of non-synonymous per synonymous substitutions within HVR1 sequences before and after antibody appearance showed an increase of these parameters only in concomitance with the appearance of anti-HVR1 antibodies.
Conclusions:
The evidence that anti-HVR1 antibodies favor HVR1 variant selection suggests that viral complexity in chronically infected patients could represent a virus adaptive strategy to escape the continuous selective process mediated by anti-HVR1 antibodies.
More Related Videos
05:03Accessing Early Differentiation of Virus-Specific Follicular Helper CD4+ T Cell in Acute LCMV-Infected Mice
Published on: April 26, 2024
10:37Analysis of HBV-Specific CD4 T-cell Responses and Identification of HLA-DR-Restricted CD4 T-Cell Epitopes Based on a Peptide Matrix
Published on: October 20, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
Hepatitis
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Viral Hepatitis I: Introduction
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Cytomegalovirus Disease