The coming impact of gene expression profiling on the diagnosis and treatment of HCV-associated liver disease

Gene expression profiling allows the level of activity of thousands of gene s to be monitored simultaneously. Profiling is often carried out on special ized chips or slides, which have microarrays of gene targets at predetermin ed addresses. In the immediate future, microarrays promise to yield new ins ights into hepatitis C virus (HCV) pathogenesis and to produce 'signatures' that can be used in molecular diagnostics. In the longer-term, they may ai d the development of serological tests by identifying genes encoding secret ory proteins produced by HCV-infected livers, and they may suggest new aven ues for disease intervention by detecting genes whose products are retained in the infected liver. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.