Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2025
Lipid Droplet Isolation for Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Published on: April 17, 2017
After the Storm: Persistent Molecular Alterations Following HCV Cure
Coline Seurre1,2, Armando Andres Roca Suarez1,2, Barbara Testoni1,2
1INSERM U1052, CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69434 Lyon, France.
Insights
Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) can eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV), but challenges remain. HCV cure does not fully resolve liver cell alterations, increasing cancer risk, necessitating further research.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Immunology
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection poses significant global health challenges despite advances in treatment.
- Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) achieve high viral clearance rates but do not fully reverse disease-associated cellular changes.
- HCV-cured individuals remain at elevated risk for liver complications, including hepatocellular carcinoma.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the impact of HCV infection on peripheral and intrahepatic cells.
- To summarize persistent cellular alterations after DAA treatment.
- To explore molecular mechanisms behind long-term cell changes and potential chemo-preventive strategies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on cellular and molecular changes in HCV infection and treatment.
- Analysis of existing data on cell population dynamics and alterations post-DAA therapy.
- Discussion of emerging single-cell multiomics technologies for disease understanding.
Main Results:
- HCV infection profoundly affects diverse cell populations, both in the liver and periphery.
- DAA treatment, while clearing the virus, leaves residual cellular and molecular abnormalities.
- Persistent alterations in intrahepatic cells may underlie the continued risk of liver disease progression.
Conclusions:
- HCV eradication via DAAs is a major therapeutic advance but does not eliminate all disease risks.
- Understanding persistent cellular alterations is crucial for managing long-term complications.
- Single-cell multiomics offers promising avenues for developing novel chemo-preventive strategies against HCV-related liver cancer.
Abstract:
The development of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) against hepatitis C virus (HCV) has revolutionized the management of this pathology, as their use allows viral elimination in a large majority of patients. Nonetheless, HCV remains a major public health problem due to the multiple challenges associated with its diagnosis, treatment availability and development of a prophylactic vaccine. Moreover, HCV-cured patients still present an increased risk of developing hepatic complications such as hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present review, we aim to summarize the impact that HCV infection has on a wide variety of peripheral and intrahepatic cell populations, the alterations that remain following DAA treatment and the potential molecular mechanisms implicated in their long-term persistence. Finally, we consider how recent developments in single-cell multiomics could refine our understanding of this disease in each specific intrahepatic cell population and drive the field to explore new directions for the development of chemo-preventive strategies.
