1. Variability in molecular characteristics of Hepatitis E virus quasispecies could modify viral surface properties and transmission
- Author
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Alexis Gentilhomme, Christophe Gantzer, Evelyne Schvoerer, Honorine Fenaux, Cédric Hartard, Jean-Pierre Bronowicki, M. Bensenane, Elodie Laugel, Thomas Remen, Sibel Berger, Hélène Jeulin, Alexis de Rougemont, Isabelle Bertrand, Elma H. Akand, Armand Maul, John M. Murray, Service de Virologie [CHRU Nancy], Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy (CHRU Nancy), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique et Microbiologie pour les Matériaux et l'Environnement (LCPME), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New South Wales [Sydney] (UNSW), Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Terre et Environnement de Lorraine (OTELo), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de Référence des virus entériques [CHU de Dijon] (CNR virus entériques), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon - Hôpital François Mitterrand (CHU Dijon), Délégation à la Recherche Clinique et à l'Innovation [CHRU Nancy] (DRCI), Service d'Hépato-gastro-entérologie [CHRU Nancy], and Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
Antigenicity ,Surface Properties ,Swine ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,viruses ,Viral quasispecies ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Hepatitis E virus ,Virology ,Genotype ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,2. Zero hunger ,chemistry.chemical_classification ,Hepatology ,Transmission (medicine) ,Developed Countries ,Pathogenicity ,Hepatitis E ,3. Good health ,Amino acid ,Quasispecies ,Infectious Diseases ,chemistry ,Infected patient ,[SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology ,030211 gastroenterology & hepatology ,Rabbits - Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) usually causes self-limited liver diseases but can also result in severe cases. Genotypes 1 (G1) and 2 circulate in developing countries are human-restricted and waterborne, while zoonotic G3 and G4 circulating in industrialized countries preferentially infect human through consumption of contaminated meat. Our aims were to identify amino acid patterns in HEV variants that could be involved in pathogenicity or in transmission modes, related to their impact on antigenicity and viral surface hydrophobicity. HEV sequences from human (n = 37) and environmental origins (wild boar [n = 3], pig slaughterhouse effluent [n = 6] and urban wastewater [n = 2]) were collected for the characterization of quasispecies using ultra-deep sequencing (ORF2/ORF3 overlap). Predictive and functional assays were carried out to investigate viral particle antigenicity and hydrophobicity. Most quasispecies showed a major variant while a mixture was observed in urban wastewater and in one chronically infected patient. Amino acid signatures were identified, as a rabbit-linked HEV pattern in two infected patients, or the S68L (ORF2) / H81C (ORF3) residue mostly identified in wild boars. By comparison with environmental strains, molecular patterns less likely represented in humans were identified. Patterns impacting viral hydrophobicity and/or antigenicity were also observed, and the higher hydrophobicity of HEV naked particles compared with the enveloped forms was demonstrated. HEV variants isolated from human and environment present molecular patterns that could impact their surface properties as well as their transmission. These molecular patterns may concern only one minor variant of a quasispecies and could emerge under selective pressure.
- Published
- 2021
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