Figure 1.

HCV quasispecies and infectivity of serum or B cells in hu-liver-uPA-SCID mice. HCV-infected patients (gt1a, gt1b and gt3a) are grouped according to their E1E2 quasispecies (QS) diversity and QS-score defined by maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees of the E1E2 region ( Supplementary Figure 2 ). Patients were grouped by low QS-score <0.25 (recent infection) and high QS-score >0.30 (chronic infection). Serum containing 3x10⁵ IU HCV RNA was injected into the peritoneal cavity or 10⁶ B cells delivered via the intra-splenic route. Mice were bled 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 weeks post-inoculation and plasma analyzed for HCV RNA level that are indicated by a heat map. ‘+, <750’ means that HCV RNA was detectable but <750 IU/ml (LOQ). Repeated experiments are indicated by hu-liver-uPA-SCID mice numbers. Patient P15 experienced a HCV super-infection and donated blood in 2006 and 2009. SNA, sample not available. ∆, not done (color code extrapolated). †, animal died before week 8.