Activation-Induced Marker Assay to Identify and Isolate HCV-Specific T Cells for Single-Cell RNA-Seq Analysis.

Identification and isolation of antigen-specific T cells for downstream transcriptomic analysis is key for various immunological studies. Traditional methods using major histocompatibility complex (MHC) multimers are limited by the number of predefined immunodominant epitopes and MHC matching of the study subjects. Activation-induced markers (AIM) enable highly sensitive detection of rare antigen-specific T cells irrespective of the availability of MHC multimers.

Coordinated expansion of memory T follicular helper and B cells mediates spontaneous clearance of HCV reinfection.

Introduction: Follicular helper T cells are essential for helping in the maturation of B cells and the production of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) during primary viral infections. However, their role during recall responses is unclear. Here, we used hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfection in humans as a model to study the recall collaborative interaction between circulating CD4 T follicular helper cells (cTfh) and memory B cells (MBCs) leading to the generation of NAbs.

Current Hepatitis C Vaccine Candidates Based on the Induction of Neutralizing Antibodies.

The introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has revolutionized hepatitis C treatment. Short courses of treatment with these drugs are highly beneficial to patients, eliminating hepatitis C virus (HCV) without adverse effects. However, this outstanding success is tempered by the continuing difficulty of eradicating the virus worldwide.

Incorporation of apolipoprotein E into HBV-HCV subviral envelope particles to improve the hepatitis vaccine strategy.

Hepatitis C is a major threat to public health for which an effective treatment is available, but a prophylactic vaccine is still needed to control this disease. We designed a vaccine based on chimeric HBV-HCV envelope proteins forming subviral particles (SVPs) that induce neutralizing antibodies against HCV in vitro. Here, we aimed to increase the neutralizing potential of those antibodies, by using HBV-HCV SVPs bearing apolipoprotein E (apoE).

Mixing particles from various HCV genotypes increases the HBV-HCV vaccine ability to elicit broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies.

The development of a safe, effective and affordable prophylactic vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a medical priority. Hepatitis B-C subviral envelope particles, which could be produced by industrial procedures adapted from those established for the hepatitis B virus vaccine, appear promising for use for this purpose. The prototype HBV-HCV bivalent vaccine-bearing genotype 1a HCV envelopes can induce neutralizing antibodies against this genotype, but is less effective against other genotypes.