CD81 sequence and susceptibility to hepatitis C infection

Several cell surface molecules have hepatitis C virus (HCV) binding properties and may serve as receptors facilitating viral entry into cells. The large extracellular loop (LEL) of CD81 has been shown to bind the HCV envelope protein E2 with several critical residues for the CD81-HCV-E2 interaction. It was hypothesised that variation in the CD81 LEL sequence may modify susceptibility to HCV infection. HCV RNA negative patients with spontaneous viral clearance (RNA -ve); HCV RNA positive cases, who are affected chronically (RNA +ve); and patients at high risk of HCV infection, exposed but uninfected patients (EU) were studied. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples and four exons of the CD81 LEL gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced. The cDNA derived from CD81 (≈700 bp) was sequenced following RNA extraction from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Patients, who are RNA positive, RNA negative, and exposed uninfected were sequenced for four DNA sections (A, B, C, and D). Sixty-two (43M:19F) patients, from all the patient cohorts, were sequenced and compared for the C section alone (which encompasses the important binding region of the molecule for envelope protein) including 21 (14M:7F) HCV RNA negative, 15 (10M:5F) HCV RNA positive and 26 (20M:6F) exposed uninfected and no sequence differences were observed. The entire CD81 sequence from cDNA was obtained in 23 cases-11 RNA -ve, 5 RNA +ve and 7 EU. In 7 of the 23 cases, the nucleotides were confirmed with the genomic sequence (4 RNA -ve and 3 EU cases). No sequence variation was found in any of the patients studied by either method, including gene sections encoding the residues most important for CD81-HCV E2 binding. The LEL of CD81 is a molecule that is highly conserved. No differences in nucleotide sequence influencing susceptibility to, or outcome of HCV infection or evidence of methylation of the gene were found.