Report on the American

T his is the fourth Report on the American Workforce to be issued by the Department of Labor. The three themes covered in this edition—workplace responses to an increasingly competitive global environment, the central role of improved skills for all participants in the labor market, and the balance of work and family—will be central concerns for policymakers, researchers, and American workers and their families well into the 21 st century. The Report’s basic direction and context is established in an introductory message from the Secretary of Labor. Each of the three subsequent chapters investigates one of the analytical topics. An updated compendium of statistical tables completes the volume. The completed Report as it appears here reflects the work of many people—economists, statisticians, data development experts, editors, visual information specialists, computer programmers, and others. Katharine G. Abraham, Commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, established the strategic direction of this series of reports. Deborah Klein and Richard Devens provided overall direction for this year’s report. Information in this report is available to sensory impaired individuals on request. Voic

Monoclonal anti-claudin 1 antibodies prevent hepatitis C virus infection of primary human hepatocytes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a challenge to prevent and treat because of the rapid development of drug resistance and escape. Viral entry is required for initiation, spread, and maintenance of infection, making it an attractive target for antiviral strategies. The tight junction protein claudin-1 (CLDN1) has been shown to be required for entry of HCV into the cell. METHODS: Using genetic immunization, we produced 6 monoclonal antibodies against the host entry factor CLDN1. The effects of antibodies on HCV infection were analyzed in human cell lines and primary human hepatocytes. RESULTS: Competition and binding studies demonstrated that antibodies interacted with conformational epitopes of the first extracellular loop of CLDN1; binding of these antibodies required the motif W(30)-GLW(51)-C(54)-C(64) and residues in the N-terminal third of CLDN1. The monoclonal antibodies against CLDN1 efficiently inhibited infection by HCV of all major genotypes as well as highly variable HCV quasispecies isolated from individual patients. Furthermore, antibodies efficiently blocked cell entry of highly infectious escape variants of HCV that were resistant to neutralizing antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Monoclonal antibodies against the HCV entry factor CLDN1 might be used to prevent HCV infection, such as after liver transplantation, and might also restrain virus spread in chronically infected patients