Visn. Nac. Akad. Nauk Ukr. 2020.(12):3-20
https://doi.org/10.15407/visn2020.12.003

Svitlana I. Romaniuk
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3900-6755
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

Serhiy V. Komisarenko
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3244-3194
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

OW THE HEPATITIS C VIRUS WAS DISCOVERED, OR THE DETECTIVE SEARCHES OF VIROLOGISTS FOR THE “SILENT KILLER”
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2020

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2020 was awarded to two American scientists - Harvey James Alter from the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) and Charles M. Rice from the Rockefeller University (New York, NY, USA), as well as British researcher Michael Houghton, who is currently working at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) “for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.” A Nobel Committee press release has noted that the ongoing research of this year’s laureates are of great benefit to mankind, allowing for effective methods of diagnosis and measures for the prevention and treatment of this infection.
Keywords: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Harvey James Alter, Michael Houghton, Charles M. Rice, Hepatitis C virus.

Full text (PDF)

 

REFERENCES

  1. Physiology or Medicine. Citation Laureates 2020. https://clarivate.com/webofsciencegroup/citation-laureates/physiology-or-medicine/
  2. Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2020/press-release/
  3. 10 famous scientific awards. Dekatop.com. 23.02.2016. (in Russian). https://dekatop.com/archives/9911
  4. Harvey J. Alter. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_J._Alter
  5. Michael Houghton (virologist). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Houghton_(virologist)
  6. Charles M. Rice. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Rice
  7. Hepatitis. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/hepatitis#tab=tab_1
  8. MacCallum F.O. Homologous serum hepatitis. Lancet. 1947. 250(6480): 691–692. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(47)90722-8
  9. Hepatitis A. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_A
  10. Hepatitis A. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-a
  11. Hepatitis E. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_E
  12. Hepatitis E. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-e
  13. Hepatitis B. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_B
  14. Hepatitis B. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-b
  15. Hepatitis D. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_D
  16. Hepatitis D. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-d
  17. Hepatitis C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C
  18. Hepatitis C. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hepatitis-c
  19. Elgharably A., Gomaa A.I., Crossey M.M.E., Norsworthy P.J., Waked I., Taylor-Robinson S.D. Hepatitis C in Egypt — past, present, and future. Int. J. Gen. Med. 2017. 10: 1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S119301

20.  Masucci M.G., Hedestam G.K. The discovery of Hepatitis C virus. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2020/advanced-information/

  1. Blumberg B.S. Polymorphisms of the serum proteins and the development of iso-preciptins in transfused patients. Bull. N. Y. Acad. Med. 1964. 40(5): 377–386. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812813688_0017
  2. Bayer M.E., Blumberg B.S., Werner B. Particles associated with Australia antigen in the sera of patients with leukaemia, Down's Syndrome and hepatitis. Nature. 1968. 218(5146):1057–1059. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2181057a0
  3. Barry Blumberg. Obituary. The Economist. April 28, 2011. https://www.economist.com/obituary/2011/04/28/barry-blumberg
  4. World Hepatitis Day. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Hepatitis_Day
  5. Alter H.J. The road not taken or how I learned to love the liver: A personal perspective on hepatitis history. Hepatology. 2014. 59(1): 4–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.26787
  6. Feinstone S.M., Kapikian A.Z., Purcell R.H. Hepatitis A: detection by immune electron microscopy of a virus like antigen associated with acute illness. Science. 1973. 182(4116): 1026–1028. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.182.4116.1026
  7. Blumberg B.S., Alter H.J., Visnich S. A "New" Antigen in Leukemia Sera. JAMA. 1965. 191(7): 541–546. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1965.03080070025007
  8. Feinstone S.M., Kapikian A.Z., Purcell R.H., Alter H.J., Holland P.V. Transfusion-associated hepatitis not due to viral hepatitis type A or B. N. Engl. J. Med. 1975. 292(15): 767–770. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm197504102921502
  9. Alter H.J., Holland P.V., Purcell R.H., Popper H. Transmissible agent in non-A, non-B hepatitis. Lancet. 1978. 311(8062): 459–463. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(78)90131-9
  10. Choo Q.L., Kuo G., Weiner A.J., Overby L.R., Bradley D.W., Houghton M. Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome. Science. 1989. 244(4902): 359–362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2523562
  11. Kuo G., Choo Q.L., Alter H.J., Gitnick G.L., Redeker A.G., Purcell R.H., Miyamura T., Dienstag J.L., Alter M.J., Stevens C.E. al et. An assay for circulating antibodies to a major etiologic virus of human non-A, non-B hepatitis. Science. 1989. 244(4902): 362–364. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2496467
  12. Wang K.S., Choo Q.L., Weiner A.J., Ou J.H., Najarian R.C., Thayer R.M., Mullenbach G.T., Denniston K.J., Gerin J.L., Houghton M. Structure, sequence and expression of the hepatitis delta (delta) viral genome. Nature. 1986. 323(6088): 508–514. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/323508a0
  13. Tanaka T., Kato N., Cho M.J., Shimotohno K. A novel sequence found at the 3' terminus of hepatitis C virus genome. Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun. 1995. 215(2): 744–749. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1995.2526
  14. Kolykhalov A.A., Feinstone S.M., Rice C.M. Identification of a highly conserved sequence element at the 3' terminus of hepatitis C virus genome RNA. J. Virol. 1996. 70(6): 3363–3371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.70.6.3363-3371.1996
  15. Kolykhalov A.A., Agapov E.V., Blight K.J., Mihalik K., Feinstone S.M., Rice C.M. Transmission of hepatitis C by intrahepatic inoculation with transcribed RNA. Science. 1997. 277(5325): 570–574. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.570
  16. Lohmann V., Korner F., Koch J., Herian U., Theilmann L., Bartenschlager R. Replication of subgenomic hepatitis C virus RNAs in a hepatoma cell line. Science. 1999. 285(5424): 110–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5424.110
  17. Mercer D.F., Schiller D.E., Elliott J.F., Douglas D.N., Hao C., Rinfret A., Addison W.R., Fischer K.P., Churchill T.A., Lakey J.R.T., Tyrrell D.L.J., Kneteman N.M. Hepatitis C virus replication in mice with chimeric human livers. Nat. Med. 2001. 7(8): 927–933. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/90968
  18. Zhao X., Tang Z.Y., Klumpp B., Wolff-Vorbeck G., Barth H., Levy S., von Weizsäcker F., Blum H.E., Baumert T.F. Primary hepatocytes of Tupaia belangeri as a potential model for hepatitis C virus infection. J. Clin. Invest. 2002. 109(2): 221–232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI13011
  19. Sanada T., Tsukiyama-Kohara K., Shin-I T., Yamamoto N., Kayesh M.E.H., Yamane D., Takano J.I., Shiogama Y., Yasutomi Y., Ikeo K., Gojobori T., Mizokami M., Kohara M. Construction of complete Tupaia belangeri transcriptome database by whole-genome and comprehensive RNA sequencing. Sci. Rep. 2019. 9(1): 12372. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48867-x
  20. Hepatitis C virus. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C_virus
  21. Palumbo E. Pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment for hepatitis C virus infection. Ther. Adv. Chronic. Dis. 2011. 2(1): 39–45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2040622310384308
  22. Arase Y., Suzuki F., Suzuki Y., Akuta N., Kawamura Y., Kobayashi M., Hosaka T., Sezaki H., Yatsuji H., Kobayashi M., Ikeda K., Kumada H. Side effects of combination therapy of peginterferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis-C. Intern. Med. 2007. 46(22): 1827–1832. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2169/internalmedicine.46.0289
  23. Lin C., Rice C.M. The hepatitis C virus NS3 serine proteinase and NS4A cofactor: establishment of a cell-free trans-processing assay. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1995. 92(17): 7622-7626. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.92.17.7622
  24. Bhatia H.K., Singh H., Grewal N., Natt N.K. Sofosbuvir: A novel treatment option for chronic hepatitis C infection. J. Pharmacol. Pharmacother. 2014. 5(4): 278–284. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-500X.142464.
  25. Link J.O., Taylor J.G., Xu L., Mitchell M., Guo H., Liu H., Kato D., Kirschberg T., Sun J., Squires N., Parrish J., Kellar T., Yang Z.Y., Yang C., Matles M., Wang Y., Wang K., Cheng G., Tian Y., Mogalian E., Mondou E., Cornpropst M., Perry J., Desai M.C. Discovery of ledipasvir (GS-5885): a potent, once-daily oral NS5A inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection. J. Med. Chem. 2014. 57(5): 2033–2046. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm401499g
  26. Gane E.J., Stedman C.A., Hyland R.H., Ding X., Svarovskaia E., Subramanian G.M., Symonds W.T., McHutchison J.G., Pang P.S. Efficacy of nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir plus the NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir or the NS5B non-nucleoside inhibitor GS-9669 against HCV genotype 1 infection. Gastroenterology. 2014. 146(3): 736–743.e1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2013.11.007
  27. Pol S., Bourliere M., Lucier S., Hezode C., Dorival C., Larrey D., Bronowicki J.P., Ledinghen V.D., Zoulim F., Tran A., Metivier S., Zarski J.P., Samuel D., Guyader D., Marcellin P., Minello A., Alric L., Thabut D., Chazouilleres O., Riachi G., Bourcier V., Mathurin P., Loustaud-Ratti V., D'Alteroche L., Fouchard-Hubert I., Habersetzer F., Causse X., Geist C., Rosa I., Gournay J., Saillard E., Billaud E., Petrov-Sanchez V., Diallo A., Fontaine H., Carrat F.; ANRS/AFEF HEPATHER study group. Safety and efficacy of daclatasvir-sofosbuvir in HCV genotype 1-mono-infected patients. J. Hepatol. 2017. 66(1): 39–47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2016.08.021
  28. Weisberg I.S., Jacobson I.M. A pangenotypic, single tablet regimen of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. Expert. Opin. Pharmacother. 2017. 18(5): 535–543. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2017.1282459
  29. Petrenko A., Gopka A. Sovaldi: the history of the best-selling drug in the entire history of the pharmaceutical industry. Forbes.ru. 02.03.2017. (in Russian). https://www.forbes.ru/tehnologii/338761-sovaldi-istoriya-samogo-prodavaemogo-preparata-za-vsyu-istoriyu-farmotrasli
  30. Indian generics for hepatitis C. (in Russian). https://sofosbuvir.su/indiyskie-generiki
  31. Lindow M., Kauppinen S. Discovering the first microRNA-targeted drug. J. Cell Biol. 2012. 199(3): 407–412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201208082
  32. Bonneau E., Neveu B., Kostantin E., Tsongalis G.J., De Guire V. How close are miRNAs from clinical practice? A perspective on the diagnostic and therapeutic market. EJIFCC. 2019. 30(2): 114–127. eCollection.
  33. van der Ree M.H., de Vree J.M., Stelma F., Willemse S., van der Valk M., Rietdijk S., Molenkamp R., Schinkel J., van Nuenen A.C., Beuers U., Hadi S., Harbers M., van der Veer E., Liu K., Grundy J., Patick A.K., Pavlicek A., Blem J., Huang M., Grint P., Neben S., Gibson N.W., Kootstra N.A., Reesink H.W. Safety, tolerability, and antiviral effect of RG-101 in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a phase 1B, double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2017. 389(10070): 709–717. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31715-9
  34. Echeverria N., Moratorio G., Cristina J., Moreno P. Hepatitis C virus genetic variability and evolution. World J. Hepatol. 2015. 7(6): 831–845. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4254/wjh.v7.i6.831.
  35. Lingala S., Ghany M.G. Natural history of hepatitis C. Gastroenterol. Clin. North. Am. 2015. 44(4): 717–734. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gtc.2015.07.003
  36. Choo Q.L., Kuo G., Ralston R., Weiner A., Chien D., Van Nest G., Han J., Berger K., Thudium K., Kuo C., Kansopon J., McFarland J., Tabrizi A., Ching K., Moss B., Cummins L.B., Houghton M., Muchmore E. Vaccination of chimpanzees against infection by the hepatitis C virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1994. 91(4): 1294–1298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.91.4.1294
  37. Frey S.E., Houghton M., Coates S., Abrignani S., Chien D., Rosa D., Pileri P., Ray R., Di Bisceglie A.M., Rinella P., Hill H., Wolff M.C., Schultze V., Han J.H., Scharschmidt B., Belshe R.B. Safety and immunogenicity of HCV E1E2 vaccine adjuvanted with MF59 administered to healthy adults. Vaccine. 2010. 28(38): 6367–73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.06.084
  38. Chen F., Nagy K., Chavez D., Willis S., McBride R., Giang E., Honda A., Bukh J., Ordoukhanian P., Zhu J., Frey S., Lanford R., Law M. Antibody responses to immunization with HCV envelope glycoproteins as a baseline for B-cell-based vaccine development. Gastroenterology. 2020. 158(4): 1058–1071.e6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2019.11.282
  39. Castelli M., Clementi N., Pfaff J., Sautto G.A., Diotti R.A., Burioni R., Doranz B.J., Dal Peraro M., Clementi M., Mancini N. A biologically-validated HCV E1E2 heterodimer structural model. Sci. Rep. 2017. 7(1): 214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00320-7
  40. Christiansen D., Earnest-Silveira L., Chua B., Meuleman P., Boo I., Grubor-Bauk B., Jackson D.C., Keck Z.Y., Foung S.K.H., Drummer H.E., Gowans E.J., Torresi J. Immunological responses following administration of a genotype 1a/1b/2/3a quadrivalent HCV VLP vaccine. Sci. Rep. 2018. 8(1): 6483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24762-9
  41. Wang X., Yan Y., Gan T., Yang X., Li D., Zhou D., Sun Q., Huang Z., Zhong J. A trivalent HCV vaccine elicits broad and synergistic polyclonal antibody response in mice and rhesus monkey. Gut. 2019. 68(1): 140–149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2017-314870
  42. Swadling L., Capone S., Antrobus R.D., Brown A., Richardson R., Newell E.W., Halliday J., Kelly C., Bowen D., Fergusson J., Kurioka A., Ammendola V., Del Sorbo M., Grazioli F., Esposito M.L., Siani L., Traboni C., Hill A., Colloca S., Davis M., Nicosia A., Cortese R., Folgori A., Klenerman P., Barnes E. A human vaccine strategy based on chimpanzee adenoviral and MVA vectors that primes, boosts, and sustains functional HCV-specific T cell memory. Sci. Transl. Med. 2014. 6(261): 261ra153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3009185
  43. From NIH: Trial Evaluating Experimental Hepatitis C Vaccine Concludes https://www.hhs.gov/hepatitis/blog/2019/06/05/experimental-hepatitis-c-vaccine-trial-concludes.html
  44. Global hepatitis report, 2017. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/global-hepatitis-report-2017
  45. Ukrainians are encouraged to take a free test for viral hepatitis (in Ukrainian). https://moz.gov.ua/article/news/ukrainciv-zaklikajut-projti-bezoplatnij-test-na-virusni-gepatiti
  46. Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021. https://www.who.int/hepatitis/strategy2016-2021/ghss-hep/en/
  47. Scott N., Kuschel C., Pedrana A., Schroeder S., Howell J., Thompson A., Wilson D.P., Hellard M. A model of the economic benefits of global hepatitis C elimination: an investment case. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020. 5(10): 940-947. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30008-X
  48. Alothaid H., Aldughaim M.S.K., El Bakkouri K., AlMashhadi S., Al-Qahtani A.A. Similarities between the effect of SARS-CoV-2 and HCV on the cellular level, and the possible role of ion channels in COVID19 progression: a review of potential targets for diagnosis and treatment. Channels (Austin). 2020. 14(1): 403-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19336950.2020.1837439