LOCALIZATION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRAL-RNA AND CAPSID PROTEIN IN HUMAN LIVER

In the livers of patients whose sera contained antibodies to C100-3 an tigen (anti-HCV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, the presence of HCV RNA and HCV capsid protein (CP) antigen was demonstrated by in situ hy bridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively. It was found that occasional hepatocytes in four of ten livers from patients whose sera were positive for both anti-HCV and HCV RNA hybridized with antisense as well as sense oligonucleotide DNA probes, whereas the probes did no t hybridize with livers from patients whose sera were negative for ant i-HCV and HCV RNA. Monoclonal antibody against a synthetic oligopeptid e with amino acid sequence of HCV CP reacted with occasional hepatocyt es in six of 14 livers from patients whose sera contained these HCV ma rkers, but not with livers from patients whose sera were negative for both of them. These results suggest that HCV proliferates within hepat ocytes since both antisense and sense probes hybridized with cytoplasm of the hepatocytes and that the virus matures in the cytoplasm as the capsid proteins were also found in the hepatocytes.