Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a devastating impact on human health, and infections can progress into liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is no effective HCV vaccine. In this study, we rescued a recombinant PR8 influenza viral vector, called rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2, carrying the core and envelope glycoprotein (C/E1/E2) epitopes of HCV inserted into the influenza nonstructural protein 1 gene. The morphological characteristics of rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2 and the expression of the C/E1/E2 epitopes of HCV were examined. rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2 replicated in various cell lines, including MDCK, A549, and Huh7.5 cells. More importantly, in BALB/c mice immunized intranasally twice at a 21-day interval with 10⁴, 10⁵, or 10⁶ TCID₅₀ rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2, the viral vector induced a robust antibody response to influenza and HCV and potent IFN-γ and IL-4 secretion in response to HCV antigens in a dose-dependent manner. The rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2 virus also stimulated IFN-γ production by virus-specific peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with chronic HCV infection. The study demonstrated that rgFLU-HCV_CE1E2 carrying HCV antigens is immunogenic in vivo and has potential for the development of a HCV vaccine.

丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）对人类健康具有毁灭性影响，感染可能会发展为肝纤维化，肝硬化和肝细胞癌。没有有效的HCV疫苗。在这项研究中，我们拯救了重组PR8流感病毒载体，称为rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2，携带携带插入流感非结构蛋白1基因的HCV核心和包膜糖蛋白（C / E1 / E2）表位。检查rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2的形态特征和HCV C / E1 / E2表位的表达。rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2在各种细胞系中复制，包括MDCK，A549和Huh7.5细胞。更重要的是，在BALB / c小鼠鼻内免疫两次在21天的间隔用10 ⁴，10 ⁵，或10 ⁶ TCID ₅₀ rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2，病毒载体以剂量依赖的方式诱导了对流感和HCV的强烈抗体反应以及对HCV抗原的有效IFN-γ和IL-4分泌。rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2病毒还刺激了慢性HCV感染患者的病毒特异性外周血单核细胞产生的IFN-γ产生。该研究表明，携带HCV抗原的rgFLU-HCV _CE1E2具有体内免疫原性，并具有开发HCV疫苗的潜力。