Viruses 2009, 1(2), 222-240; doi:10.3390/v1020222
Review

HCV Animal Models: A Journey of More than 30 Years

Philip Meuleman* email and Geert Leroux-Roelsemail
Center for Vaccinology, Ghent University and Hospital, Building A, 1st floor, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 12 June 2009; in revised form: 5 August 2009 / Accepted: 18 August 2009 / Published: 2 September 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hepatitis Viruses)
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Abstract: In the 1970s and 1980s it became increasingly clear that blood transfusions could induce a form of chronic hepatitis that could not be ascribed to any of the viruses known to cause liver inflammation. In 1989, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was discovered and found to be the major causative agent of these infections. Because of its narrow ropism, the in vivo study of this virus was, especially in the early days, limited to the chimpanzee. In the past decade, several alternative animal models have been created. In this review we review these novel animal models and their contribution to our current understanding of the biology of HCV.
Keywords: HCV; animal model; chimpanzee; chimeric mice; uPA-SCID; hepatitis C; antiviral therapy; neutralizing antibodies

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Meuleman, P.; Leroux-Roels, G. HCV Animal Models: A Journey of More than 30 Years. Viruses 2009, 1, 222-240.

AMA Style

Meuleman P, Leroux-Roels G. HCV Animal Models: A Journey of More than 30 Years. Viruses. 2009; 1(2):222-240.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Meuleman, Philip; Leroux-Roels, Geert. 2009. "HCV Animal Models: A Journey of More than 30 Years." Viruses 1, no. 2: 222-240.

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