戊型肝炎病毒的基因组结构及生物学功能研究进展

摘要

戊型肝炎病毒(HEV)是发展中国家引起急性病毒肝炎的重要病原体之一。HEV有4个主要基因型,1型和2型只感染人,通过污染的水源引起暴发流行;3型和4型属于人畜共患病原体,常引起散发病例。为进一步阐明HEV的致病和跨种系传播机理,本文就近年来在HEV基因及其蛋白质的生物学特性和功能研究方面取得的进展进行综述。Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the most important pathogens of acute viral hepatitis prevailing in developing countries. There are four major genotypes of mammalian HEV, genotype 1 and 2 are restricted to human infection, and induce epidemic hepatitis E which is mainly transmitted by contaminated water; whereas genotype 3 and 4 are zoonotic causing sporadic cases which are common in developed countries. In recent years, much more attention has been paid to the structures of viral genes and the functions of viral proteins. The research progress achieved in such field will help us uncover the veil of HEV in pathogenesis and infection.