Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Characteristics in Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Implications for Vaccine Design

Despite the use of direct-acting antiviral medications to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV), over a million people are newly infected each year, highlighting the need for a prophylactic vaccine. Due to the remarkable genetic diversity of HCV and its many immune evasion mechanisms, an effective vaccine will need to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb). In addition to providing evidence that a prophylactic HCV vaccine is feasible, this review provides an overview of known HCV bNAb targets, common antibody sequence features associated with broad neutralization, and mechanisms of immune escape. Ongoing knowledge gaps in the field and promising future directions are also discussed.