Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most frequent cause of acute viral hepatitis across the globe. HEV has now been recognized as an emerging zoonotic pathogen due to its unknown host range and pathogenicity and thus has become a health burden globally that requires serious attention. According to recent evaluation, about 939 million people across the world have experienced HEV infection in their past and approximately 15-110 million individuals are still experiencing HEV infections. An effective antiviral drug against HEV is still not available, except the only vaccine Hecolin which is available in China. Owing to the discovery of new strains in addition to host range expansion, the consequences of HEV on health remain doubtful, which further complicates the progress of risk and transmission of HEV infection.
HEV of the family Hepeviridae is a small RNA virus. The genome is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA molecule of about15 kb and systematized into three open reading frames (ORFs) coding for both structural and non-structural proteins. The additional reading frame ORF4 is exclusive to GT1 (Genotype 1) of HEV. Though the role of ORF4 has been demonstrated in the replication of HEV GT1, however, different aspects of ORF4 are still not comprehended. In this book, we will focus on ORF4, reviewing recent research progresses, that provide insights into HEV biology.
This book contains significant aspects on the less understood HEV ORF4 which include molecular, evolutionary and genetic characteristics. The first chapter gives a brief introduction to the HEV ORF4 region. Next few chapters describe the codon usage, intrinsic disorder and phosphorylation phenomena in HEV ORF4. The last chapter describes the adaptive features of ORF4 of HEV. Altogether this book discusses the potential of ORF4 as a potential drug molecule, thus can accelerate the process of drug designing strategies against HEV.
The present book will also deliver basic knowledge and noteworthy information on different bioinformatics predictor tools to the students, researchers, academicians and common citizens alike. Although immense progress has been made in understanding the role of ORF4 in Hepatitis E virus biology, further studies are required globally.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my husband and family members. Without their support, this book would not have been published. Finally, I sincerely hope this book provides useful information and will be of benefit to all its readers.
