Synthesis of a novel hepatitis C virus protein by ribosomal frameshift
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen that affects ∼100 million people worldwide. Its RNA genome codes for a polyprotein, which is cleaved by viral and cellular proteases to produce at least 10 mature viral protein products. We report here the discovery of a novel HCV protein synthesized by ribosomal frameshift. This protein, which we named the F protein, is synthesized from the initiation codon of the polyprotein sequence followed by ribosomal frameshift into the –2/+1 reading frame. This ribosomal frameshift requires only codons 8–14 of the core protein-coding sequence, and the shift junction is located at or near codon 11. An F protein analog synthesized in vitro reacted with the sera of HCV patients but not with the sera of hepatitis B patients, indicating the expression of the F protein during natural HCV infection. This unexpected finding may open new avenues for the development of anti-HCV drugs.
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Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | public |
| bureauCode |
[ "009:25" ] |
| contactPoint |
{ "fn": "NIH", "@type": "vcard:Contact", "hasEmail": "mailto:info@nih.gov" } |
| description | Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen that affects ∼100 million people worldwide. Its RNA genome codes for a polyprotein, which is cleaved by viral and cellular proteases to produce at least 10 mature viral protein products. We report here the discovery of a novel HCV protein synthesized by ribosomal frameshift. This protein, which we named the F protein, is synthesized from the initiation codon of the polyprotein sequence followed by ribosomal frameshift into the –2/+1 reading frame. This ribosomal frameshift requires only codons 8–14 of the core protein-coding sequence, and the shift junction is located at or near codon 11. An F protein analog synthesized in vitro reacted with the sera of HCV patients but not with the sera of hepatitis B patients, indicating the expression of the F protein during natural HCV infection. This unexpected finding may open new avenues for the development of anti-HCV drugs. |
| distribution |
[ { "@type": "dcat:Distribution", "title": "Official Government Data Source", "mediaType": "text/html", "description": "Visit the original government dataset for complete information, documentation, and data access.", "downloadURL": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC125543/" } ] |
| identifier | https://healthdata.gov/api/views/5ht4-tqst |
| issued | 2025-07-14 |
| keyword |
[ "hcv-infection", "hepatitis-c", "nih", "ribosomal-frameshift", "viral-protein" ] |
| landingPage | https://healthdata.gov/d/5ht4-tqst |
| modified | 2025-09-06 |
| programCode |
[ "009:033" ] |
| publisher |
{ "name": "National Institutes of Health", "@type": "org:Organization" } |
| theme |
[ "NIH" ] |
| title | Synthesis of a novel hepatitis C virus protein by ribosomal frameshift |
