Estudi de l'estructura en quasi-espècies del virus de la hepatitis C (VHC) en diferents situacions clíniques. Efecte sobre la persistència de la infecció

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) (a 10 Kb single-stranded RNA virus with genomic organization similar to that of Flavivirus and Pestivirus), has as its most striking feature, high tendency to become persistent (in over 80% of the cases) leading to the smoldering development of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. HCV circulates as a population of viruses with heterogeneous genomes, in a quasi-species distribution (a population of virions with an identical genomic sequence along with a large spectrum of mutant viruses). In other RNA viruses quasi-species have been shown to have important biological implications. In this project we will try to stablish the role that quasi-species structure of the HCV genome might play in viral persistence. We will study the dynamic of HCV quasi-species in relation to the biochemical/hystological outcome in a significant number of subjects with different, spontaneou