Antigenicity of key hepatitis C virus E1E2 glycoprotein neutralizing sites is genotype independent
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The development of an effective prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine is a priority to achieve global elimination of the virus. Accurate assessment of the neutralizing breadth of antibodies induced by vaccines and a clear understanding of the antigenic differences between viral variants included in vaccines are both critical for vaccine development. Prior studies have indicated that HCV genotypes (gts) do not dictate the sensitivity of HCV envelope glycoprotein (E1E2) variants to neutralizing antibodies. However, most of these prior studies under-sampled variants from gts 2-6. Here, we selected a genetically diverse and representative panel of gt 2-6 E1E2 variants, used them to generate HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp), and measured neutralization of these HCVpp by neutralizing antibodies and HCV-immune plasma from persons infected with gt 1-6 viruses. We found that neutralization results obtained with this gt 2-6 panel were remarkably similar to results obtained with a previously described, antigenically diverse, gt 1-predominant reference panel of 15 HCVpp. These data confirm that, even considering genetically diverse HCV variants across gt 1-6, E1E2 antigenicity is not dictated by gt, and that the previously published panel of 15 HCVpp represents neutralization of all HCV gts with reasonable accuracy.
Source: Journal of General Virology
DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.002201
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Oxford, Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Scripps Research Institute, University of Liverpool, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, University of Nottingham, Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis C virus research
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: Johns Hopkins University, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, National Institute for Health and Care Research, University of Oxford, University of Nottingham, University of Glasgow, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Medical Research Council, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
OpenAlex ID: W7123342819