Irfan A Khan
Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi
Abstract:
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has infected over 170 million individuals worldwide. Effective therapy against HCV is still lacking and there is a need to develop potent drugs against the virus. In this respect, two recent advances in the field of HCV research may be exploited to great benefit: a) Con1/SG-Neo a genotype 1b subgenomic replicon that is able to independently replicate in the cell line Huh 8, and b) the Huh 7 cell culture model that employs cells transfected with synthetic HCV RNA producing the infectious HCV particles.
In the present study, we have used the above-mentioned HCV culture models to test the activity of certain drugs against HCV.
Methodology: Huh 7 cells producing the HCV virion as well as actively dividing Huh 8 cells were grown in the presence or absence of 12 different drugs for 96 hours. Afterwards, Both Huh 7 and Huh 8 cells were lysed, and viral RNA was extracted. The extracted RNA was reverse transcribed and quantified by real-time qPCR, using primers against the HCV gene NS3.
Results: To varying degrees, all of the tested drugs effectively inhibited HCV replication in both Huh 7 and Huh 8 culture models.
Conclusion: The two HCV culture models can be effectively used for the development of novel therapeutics against HCV.
