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Biomedical subjects

Berwyn Clarke

Publications and source records attributed to Berwyn Clarke.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Molecular genotyping of hepatitis B virus.

The development of new therapeutic agents against hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the predictable emergence of resistant mutants have highlighted the need to provide new molecular assays for optimal therapeutic management. Similarly, other variants and genotypes of HBV have now been identified that appear to have distinct clinical and pathological importance. This paper outlines the current clinical importance of HBV on a global scale, reviews the current generation of molecular genotyping assays and discusses the prospects for new assays in the near future.

Demography↗

The 5' untranslated region of GB virus B shows functional similarity to the internal ribosome entry site of hepatitis C virus.

Since its characterization in 1995, there has been increasing interest in the significance of GB virus B (GBV-B) due to its close phylogenetic relationship to hepatitis C virus (HCV). The genome of GBV-B is similar in length and organization to that of HCV and the two viruses share sequence similarity in their 5' untranslated regions (5'UTR). A secondary structure model of the GBV-B 5'UTR has been proposed by comparative sequence analysis with HCV. The highly conserved secondary structure, present in HCV and the pestiviruses, is also present in the 5'UTR of GBV-B. Translation of the HCV polyprotein initiates via an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and it is proposed that the GBV-B UTR may function in a similar manner. Dicistronic reporter constructs were made to investigate the function of the GBV-B 5'UTR. Mutational analysis and in vitro translation experiments demonstrate that GBV-B initiates translation via an IRES.

5' Untranslated Regions↗