Mutations around interferon sensitivity-determining region: A pilot resistance report of hepatitis C virus 1b in a Hong Kong population

Figure 1 Amino acid variations within the extended interferon sensitivity-determining region for interferon-non-response group (A) and interferon-sustained virological response group (B). In the line of "1b-NR_consensus", capital letters denote the conserved amino acids for all sequences while lower-case letters denote the most frequent amino acid in that position. In other lines, letters denote amino acids different from IFN-NR (non-response) consensus sequence, while "-" means the same amino acid as in IFN-NR consensus sequence. Suffix "NR" follows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) strains which were resistant to IFN-α treatment. Suffix "SVR (sustained virological response)" follows the HCV strains which responded to IFN-α treatment. The previously defined interferon sensitivity-determining region was labeled by a square-line box. Arrows indicate the loci where amino acid variations were potentially associated with outcomes of IFN-α treatment and were examined in this study.