Fig. 1

Design and construction of HCV4a lentiviral transfer plasmid, pLV-HCV4a C–P7. Schematic diagrams showing a The structure of HCV4a C–P7 ORF cassette encompassing the full cDNA sequence of Core, E1, E2 and P7 ORFs of HCV genotype 4a. b A genetic map of the constructed lentiviral transfer plasmid, pLV-HCV4a C–P7, encoding Core, E1, E2 and P7 ORFs of HCV genotype 4a under the control of EF1α mammalian expression promoter and contains puromycin-resistance gene for the selection of stable cells. c A schematic diagram showing the structure of HCV native virus where the viral genome is encased in a capsid of the viral core protein which is enveloped by an envelope of a lipid bilayer derived from host membranes and HCV E1 and E2. The diagram is also showing the structure of the Virus-like particle (VLP) which is the same as the native virus but without the infectious genome. This diagram was created with BioRender.com