Project A07 (Associated)

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has infected an estimated 58 million people worldwide and is therefore a global health burden [1]. While drugs to treat an HCV infection are available, a vaccine to control the spread of the virus is still missing [2]. Besides additional immune evasion mechanisms, the genetic diversity of HCV represents a major challenge in vaccine design [3,4]. It is known that the HCV glycoprotein E2 induces neutralizing antibody responses, which differ in strength depending on the E2 sequence. This project aims to gain insights into the determinants of immunogenicity inherent to the HCV E1/E2 heterodimer. To reach this goal, the heterodimer will be produced in complex with potent neutralizing antibodies identified from chronically infected HCV patients and the resulting complex structurally characterized by cryo-electron microscopy. The expected results will pave the way for informed vaccine design.