Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40242309›Full record

ArticleJHEP reports : innovation in hepatology2025

Adapted hepatitis C virus clone infects innate immunity-deficient mouse hepatocytes with minimal human HCV entry factors.

Julie Ann Sheldon, Melina Winkler, Qinggong Yuan, Nicola Frericks, Richard John Phillip Brown, Csaba Miskey, Natascha Gödecke, Sara Behme, Katharina Rox, Giorgia Mysegades and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Julie Ann SheldonInstitute for Experimental Virology, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture Between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Melina WinklerInstitute for Experimental Virology, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture Between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Qinggong YuanDepartment of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectious Diseases and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Nicola FrericksInstitute for Experimental Virology, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture Between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Richard John Phillip BrownDepartment for Molecular and Medical Virology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Csaba MiskeyDivision of Medical Biotechnology, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen, Germany.
Natascha GödeckeModel Systems for Infection and Immunity, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Sara BehmeModel Systems for Infection and Immunity, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Katharina RoxDepartment of Chemical Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Giorgia MysegadesDepartment of Virology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Florian VondranDepartment for General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Dagmar WirthModel Systems for Infection and Immunity, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Thomas PietschmannInstitute for Experimental Virology, TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint venture Between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background & Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a narrow species tropism and cannot infect mice. To understand HCV species tropism and to develop better animal models, we adapted HCV to infect mouse cells deficient in innate immunity and with minimal human HCV host factors. Methods: HCV was adapted via passaging an HCV infectious virus clone several times in human hepatoma cells, mouse liver cells, and eventually primary mouse hepatocytes deficient in innate immunity and ectopically expressing human occludin and human CD81. Using RNAseq the sequence of the adapted virus was analyzed, and several clones were generated to study replication and infection kinetics as well as neutralization assays in several human/mouse cell lines and primary hepatocytes from human, mouse, and macaques. Results: Accumulation of 35 non-synonymous and 66 synonymous mutations correlated with >1,000-fold enhanced production of infectious progeny from primary mouse hepatocytes. These mutations did not confer drug resistance or evasion from innate immunity. They did not enhance fitness in human or macaque hepatocytes. We show that non-synonymous mutations are necessary and sufficient for adaptation, and that changes to the glycoproteins are not essential. Mutations outside of viral envelope proteins enhanced specific infectivity and facilitated viral spread in murine cells. Conclusions: This study reveals key viral factors governing HCV species tropism. The mouse-adapted HCV opens up possibilities for the development of animal models to analyze HCV pathogenesis, immune control, and vaccine development. Impact and implications: This work demonstrates the feasibility in principle of HCV adaptation to replication in and infection of non-human cells. This is made possible by a manageable number of non-synonymous mutations and opens up new ways to elucidate the principles of HCV species tropism and to develop important animal models for HCV research in the long term.

Indexed as

AdaptationMolecular cloneReplicationSpecies tropism

Identifiers

PMID40242309
PMCPMC11999267

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.