Real-time imaging of hepatitis C virus infection using a fluorescent cell-based reporter system

• Main Authors: Jones, Christopher T. (Author), Catanese, Maria Teresa (Author), Law, Lok Man J. (Author), Khetani, Salman R. (Contributor), Syder, Andrew J. (Author), Ploss, Alexander (Author), Oh, Thomas S. (Author), Schoggins, John W. (Author), MacDonald, Margaret R. (Author), Bhatia, Sangeeta N. (Contributor), Rice, Charles M. (Author)
• Other Authors: Harvard University- (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group, 2012-12-10T19:55:33Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Author Manuscript 2010 August 1
Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which infects 2-3% of the world population, is a causative agent of chronic hepatitis and the leading indication for liver transplantation1. The ability to propagate HCV in cell culture (HCVcc) is a relatively recent breakthrough and a key tool in the quest for specific antiviral therapeutics. Monitoring HCV infection in culture generally involves bulk population assays, use of genetically modified viruses and/or terminal processing of potentially precious samples. Here we develop a cell-based fluorescent reporter system that allows sensitive distinction of individual HCV-infected cells in live or fixed samples. We demonstrate use of this technology for several previously intractable applications, including live-cell imaging of viral propagation and host response, as well as visualizing infection of primary hepatocyte cultures. Integration of this reporter with modern image-based analysis methods could open new doors for HCV research.
New York (State). Dept. of Health (Empire State Stem Cell Fund Contract C023046)
United States. Public Health Service (Grant R01 DK56966)
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Roadmap for Medical Research Grant 1 R01 DK085713-01)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Investigator)