Researchers have created a new animal model for hepatitis C infection that could facilitate the development of new treatments for the disease.

Currently, the main therapeutic strategy for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections involves the administration of a cytokine to modulate the immune system. However, this approach is difficult for patients to tolerate, often leading to excessive fatigue, nausea and anemia, among other ailments. New antiviral medications are on the horizon, but even these are not expected to help around 30% of people infected.

One critical roadblock to developing better treatment options is a lack of suitable mouse models. At present, researchers searching for new HCV therapies rely on chimpanzees, which are susceptible to HCV infection. This sensitivity could be because these primates also have cell surface proteins similar to those found in humans that are thought to facilitate viral infection.

Now, Charles Rice, a virologist at Rockefeller University in New York, and his colleagues have engineered mice susceptible to HCV infection by introducing two human protein receptors that facilitate virus entry into the liver. In a series of unpublished experiments presented on Monday at the New York Academy of Sciences, the Rockefeller team showed that vaccinated mice had lower rates of HCV infection compared to non-vaccinated controls. According to study lead author Alexander Ploss, another Rockefeller virologist, these mice can now be used to develop HCV vaccines and to search for new drugs to prevent re-infection in people who receive liver transplants as a result of HCV-triggered disease.

This study follows the introduction of another humanized mouse model — published online earlier this month from a team that included Rice and Ploss— that recapitulates liver disease characteristic of people suffering from chronic HCV infection.

For more on the quest to develop mouse models of HCV infection, check out our ‘community corner’ discussion on the topic.

Image: GrahamColm, Wikimedia