Database Commons

a catalog of worldwide biological databases

Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver that results in acute hepatitis and chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. An estimated 170 million persons are chronically infected worldwide. The Hepatitis C virus is the pathogen agent responsible for hepatitis C. HCV is an enveloped RNA-positive virus of the flaviviridae family. The HCV genome shows remarkable sequence variability. This variability leads to the classification of HCV into 6 genotypes, numerous subtypes and HCV exists in each infected patient as quasi-species. The genotype may be linked to the severity of the disease and to the efficiency of the combination treatment with interferon and ribavirin. To date, no vaccine to prevent or cure HCV exists. Numerous HCV specific inhibitors have been designed and some are currently under clinical trials. However, resistances of HCV against these inhibitors have been identified. We developed the European Hepatitis C Virus Database (euHCVdb, http://euhcvdb.ibcp.fr/), a collection of functionally and structurally (3D-models) annotated HCV sequences integrated with sequence and structure analysis tools. We show below how the euHCVdb database is a useful in silico tool that can help drug design, combating resistance to drug treatment and understand structural biology of the HCV.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome shows remarkable sequence variability, leading to the classification of at least six major genotypes, numerous subtypes and a myriad of quasispecies within a given host. A database allowing researchers to investigate the genetic and structural variability of all available HCV sequences is an essential tool for studies on the molecular virology and pathogenesis of hepatitis C as well as drug design and vaccine development. We describe here the European Hepatitis C Virus Database (euHCVdb, http://euhcvdb.ibcp.fr), a collection of computer-annotated sequences based on reference genomes. The annotations include genome mapping of sequences, use of recommended nomenclature, subtyping as well as three-dimensional (3D) molecular models of proteins. A WWW interface has been developed to facilitate database searches and the export of data for sequence and structure analyses. As part of an international collaborative effort with the US and Japanese databases, the European HCV Database (euHCVdb) is mainly dedicated to HCV protein sequences, 3D structures and functional analyses.