Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Two Methods of Heterokaryon Formation to Discover HCV Restriction Factors
Published on: July 16, 2012
Molecular basis of interferon resistance in hepatitis C virus
Celia Perales1, Nathan M Beach2, Julie Sheldon3
1Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (CSIC-UAM), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
Resistance to interferon (IFN) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) differs from resistance to standard, directly-acting antiviral (DAA) agents in that the virus confronts a multicomponent antiviral state evoked by IFN. This renders unlikely the repeated selection of the same specific mutations that confer an IFN-resistance phenotype. Comparison of amino acid sequences of viral proteins in HCV that replicates in the presence of IFN in vivo or in cell culture (with entire virus or subgenomic replicons) reveals very few common candidate IFN resistance substitutions. Multiple host and viral factors contribute to divergent responses to IFN. The environmental heterogeneity in which exogenous IFN is expected to exert its selective effect may increase as a result of incorporation of new DAAs in therapy.
Related Concept Videos
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Hepatitis
Viruses with RNA Genomes
Treatment Resistant Cancers
Viral Hepatitis I: Introduction
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers

