A bioinformatics pipeline for the analyses of viral escape dynamics and host immune responses during an infection

Biomed Res Int. 2014:2014:264519. doi: 10.1155/2014/264519. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Abstract

Rapidly mutating viruses, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV, have adopted evolutionary strategies that allow escape from the host immune response via genomic mutations. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing are reshaping the field of immuno-virology of viral infections, as these allow fast and cheap generation of genomic data. However, due to the large volumes of data generated, a thorough understanding of the biological and immunological significance of such information is often difficult. This paper proposes a pipeline that allows visualization and statistical analysis of viral mutations that are associated with immune escape. Taking next generation sequencing data from longitudinal analysis of HCV viral genomes during a single HCV infection, along with antigen specific T-cell responses detected from the same subject, we demonstrate the applicability of these tools in the context of primary HCV infection. We provide a statistical and visual explanation of the relationship between cooccurring mutations on the viral genome and the parallel adaptive immune response against HCV.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Genome, Viral / genetics
  • HIV Infections / genetics
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • Hepacivirus / genetics
  • Hepatitis C / genetics
  • Hepatitis C / virology
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods*
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Innate / genetics*
  • Mutation
  • Software*