We have characterized viral-cell interactions of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and liver cells to study the pathogenesis of HCV infection. HepG2 cells constitutively expressing HCV core protein showed apoptotic changes in response to stimulation with anti-Fas monoclonal antibody. Cells treated with the antibody showed extensive cell rounding, shrinkage, and cytoplasmic blebbing and finally detached f...

AIM:To clone core gene cDNA of Chinese hepatitis C virus (HCV) into eukaryotic expression vector cosmid pTM3 and to express HCV core antigen in HepG2 cells.METHODS:Core gene cDNA of HCV was introduced into eukaryotic expression vector cosmid pTM3.Using vaccinia virus/bacteriophage T7 hybrid expression system, HepG2 cells were transfected with the recombinant plasmid pTM3-Q534 by lipofectin.RESU...

background: hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. therefore, designing new and effective therapeutics is of great importance. the aim of the current study was to construct a dna vaccine containing structural proteins of hcv and evaluation of its expression in a eukaryotic system. methods: struct...

RNA interference (RNAi) represents a promising strategy for the treatment of HCV infection. However, the development of an effective system for in vivo delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to target organ remains a formidable challenge. Here, we develop a unique nanoparticle platform (VE-DC) composed of α-tocopherol (vitamin E) and cholesterol-based cationic liposomes (DOTAP-Chol) for syst...

The detection and quantification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen in serum or plasma by the use of different assay formats have previously been shown to represent useful markers of viral replication. In the present study, the intrinsic performance characteristics and the potential clinical utility of a novel assay for the quantification of total HCV core antigen were comprehensively asse...

Novel therapies are urgently needed against hepatitis C virus infection (HCV), a major global health problem. The current model of infectious virus production suggests that HCV virions are assembled on or near the surface of lipid droplets, acquire their envelope at the ER, and egress through the secretory pathway. The mechanisms of HCV assembly and particularly the role of viral-host protein-p...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) assembly is still poorly understood. It is thought that trafficking of the HCV core protein to the lipid droplet (LD) surface is essential for its multimerization and association with newly synthesized HCV RNA to form the viral nucleocapsid. We carried out a mapping analysis of several complete HCV genomes of all genotypes, and found that the genotype 2 JFH-1 core protei...

BACKGROUND & AIMS It has been suggested that amino acid (aa) substitution at position 70 from arginine (70R) to glutamine (70Q) in the genotype 1b hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein is associated with insulin resistance and worse prognosis. However, the precise mechanism is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the substitution at position 70 in HCV core protei...

Persistent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with the development of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. To examine the oncogenic potential of the HCV core gene product, primary rat embryo fibroblasts (REFs) were transfected with the core gene in the presence or absence of the H-ras oncogene. In contrast to a previous report (R. B. Ray, L. M. Lagging, K. Meyer, and ...