Innate form of HCV core protein plays an important role in the localization and the function of HCV core protein

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) has been identified as the major causative agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Core protein is not only a capsid protein of HCV but also a regulator of cellular functions, and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of HCV. Core protein is produced as an innate form (amino acids [a.a.] 1-191), and following processing produces a mature form (a.a. 1-173). This study demonstrates that the innate form regulates subcellular localization of the mature form, and that the innate form in the cytoplasm enhances p21 expression; on the other hand, the mature form in the nucleus suppresses p21 expression. These observations suggest that the innate form is not only a precursor of the mature form but also a regulator of the localization and functions of core protein.     

HCV核心蛋白诱导Cos—7细胞凋亡

将丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)核心蛋白(Core)基因的全长序列插入到真核表达载体pCDNA3 CMV启动子下游,构建真核表达载体pCDNA3—Core,用脂质体LipoVec^TM转染Cos—7细胞系进行瞬时表达;DNA转染24h后用免疫斑点试验检测在细胞中表达的Core蛋白;转染72h后用Hoechst染色和DNA Ladder检测Cos—7细胞的凋亡情况;荧光染色观察到了细胞凋亡核碎裂,琼脂糖凝胶电泳也呈现出180—200bp整数倍的梯形带,呈现典型的细胞凋亡特征。这些结果表明HCV Core蛋白的表达能引起Cos—7细胞凋亡,Core蛋白的这种功能可能在HCV的持续感染过程中起着一定的作用。     

HCV核心蛋白诱导Cos-7细胞凋亡

将丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)核心蛋白(Core)基因的全长序列插入到真核表达载体pCDNA3 CMV启动子下游,构建真核表达载体pCDNA3-Core,用脂质体LipoVecTM转染Cos-7细胞系进行瞬时表达;DNA转染24h后用免疫斑点试验检测在细胞中表达的Core蛋白;转染72h后用Hoechst染色和DNA Ladder检测Cos-7细胞的凋亡情况;荧光染色观察到了细胞凋亡核碎裂,琼脂糖凝胶电泳也呈现出180-200bp整数倍的梯形带,呈现典型的细胞凋亡特征.这些结果表明HCV Core蛋白的表达能引起Cos-7细胞凋亡,Core蛋白的这种功能可能在HCV的持续感染过程中起着一定的作用.     

Nuclear localization signal of ING4 plays a key role in its binding to p53

ING4, a novel member of ING family, is recently reported to interact with tumor suppressor p53 and negatively regulate the cell growth with significant G2/M arrest of cell cycle in HepG2 cells through upregulation of p53-inducible gene p21. However, which region of ING4 could have contributed to the binding to p53 remains largely unclear. Herein, the GST-pulldown experiments revealed that the middle region of ING4, a potential bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS), could be involved in the binding to p53. Furthermore, the interaction of ING4 to p53 was abrogated in vitro and in vivo when certain mutations or the entire deletion of the NLS domain occurred. More interestingly, the mutations of the NLS domain could alter the ING4 nuclear localization, disrupt the interaction of ING4 with p53, and even, deregulate the p53-inducible gene p21 in MCF-7 cells. All data indicated that the NLS domain of ING4 is essential for the binding of ING4 to p53 and the function of ING4 associated with p53.     

COX-2 mediates hepatitis B virus X protein abrogation of p53-induced apoptosis

The oncogenic hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 are highly co-expressed in chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although HBx is shown to activate COX-2, the functional consequences of this interaction in hepatocarcinogenesis remain unknown. Using an engineered hepatoma cell system in which the expression of wild-type p53 can be chemically modulated, we show here that COX-2 mediates HBx actions in opposing p53. Enforced expression of HBx sequestrates p53 in the cytoplasm and significantly abolishes p53-induced apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 protein is suppressed by p53 but reactivated by HBx. The abrogation of apoptosis is completely reversed by specific COX-2 inhibition, suggesting that HBx blocks p53-induced apoptosis via activation of COX-2/PGE₂ pathway. We further show that COX-2 inhibition blocks HBx reactivation of Mcl-1, linking this protein to the anti-apoptotic function of COX-2. These results demonstrate that COX-2 is an important survival factor mediating the oncogenic actions of HBx. Over-expression of HBx and COX-2 may provide a selective clonal advantage for preneoplastic or neoplastic hepatocytes and contribute to the initiation and progression of HCC.     

Putative tumor suppressor YueF affects the functions of hepatitis B virus X protein in hepatoma cell apoptosis and p53 expression

Previously, we identified YueF as a novel Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx)-interacting protein. Herein, we studied the functions of YueF and HBx in hepatocarcinogenesis. YueF was expressed at high levels in normal human hepatic cells and tissues, but scarcely found in hepatoma cells or other tumor tissues. Over-expression of YueF, or YueF and HBx could induce cell apoptosis and enhance p53 expression in hepatoma cells, whereas over-expression of HBx alone behaved contrarily. These results indicate that YueF has tumor suppressor activity and affects the functions of HBx in cell apoptosis and p53 expression in hepatoma cells.     

Both p53-PUMA/NOXA-Bax-mitochondrion and p53-p21cip1 pathways are involved in the CDglyTK-mediated tumor cell suppression

CDglyTK fusion suicide gene has been well characterized to effectively kill tumor cells. However, the exact mechanism and downstream target genes are not fully understood. In our study, we found that CDglyTK/prodrug treatment works more efficiently in p53 wild-type (HONE1) cells than in p53 mutant (CNE1) cells. We then used adenovirus-mediated gene delivery system to either knockdown or overexpress p53 and its target genes in these cells. Consistent results showed that both p53-PUMA/NOXA/Bcl2-Bax and p53-p21 pathways contribute to the CDglyTK induced tumor cell suppression. Our work for the first time addressed the role of p53 related genes in the CDglyTK/prodrug system.     

Nuclear localization of nucleocapsid-like particles and HCV core protein in hepatocytes of a chronically HCV-infected patient

Little is known about the life cycle of hepatitis C virus. Determination of the subcellular localization of HCV proteins may contribute to our understanding of the in vivo functions of the viral proteins. HCV core protein regulates multiple functions in host cells and it has been detected both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus using different expression systems. In this study, nucleocapsid-like particles were observed in the nucleus of hepatocytes from a chronically HCV-infected patient. They were similar in size and shape to those of HCV core-like particles purified from recombinant Pichia pastoris cells. In addition the HCV core protein was detected not only in the cytoplasm but also in the nucleus and nucleolus of hepatocytes by immunoelectron microscopy. This is the first report showing nuclear localization of HCV core protein and nucleocapsid-like particles in hepatocytes during in vivo HCV infection.     

丙型肝炎病毒中国株非结构蛋白2~3部分基因cDNA克隆序列分析及表达

丙型肝炎病毒 (ＨｅｐａｔｉｔｉｓＣｖｉｒｕｓ,ＨＣＶ)是输血后和许多社区获得性非甲非乙肝炎的主要致病因子。ＨＣＶ为单股正链ＲＮＡ病毒 ,其基因组长约 9.5Ｋｂ ,编码区含一个大开放读码框架 ,编码 30 1 0 30 33氨基酸残基的多蛋白前体 ,经宿主蛋白酶和病毒蛋白酶加工成具有生物学功能的成熟蛋白。ＨＣＶ各区域的分布顺序是 :Ｃ Ｅ1 Ｅ2 ｐ7 ＮＳ2 ＮＳ3 ＮＳ4Ａ ＮＳ4Ｂ ＮＳ5Ａ ＮＳ5Ｂ[1] 。本文我们应用ＲＴ ＰＣＲ方法从ＨＣＶ患者血清中扩增编码病毒蛋白酶的非结构蛋白 (ＮＳ2 ＮＳ3)部分基因 ,对其核苷酸序列进行了分析 ,…     

HCV结构蛋白在昆虫细胞中的表达及病毒样颗粒的组装

本文利用Bac-to-Bac杆状病毒表达系统构建了含有丙型肝炎病毒(Hepatitis C Virus,HCV)结构蛋白编码基因的重组杆状病毒vAcHCVspl,并获得了HCV结构蛋白在昆虫细胞Sf21中的表达。HCV mRNA转录和蛋白质表达时相分析表明,感染后16h HCV结构蛋白编码基因开始转录,72h达最高峰;蛋白质表达则是在感染后48h开始,72h达到高峰。电镜观察表明vAcHCVspl感染的Sf21细胞96h时在细胞质中可见很多空泡,空泡中可见50nm的球形颗粒,为HCV结构蛋白组装的病毒样颗粒。     

Hepatitis C virus core protein: intriguing properties and functional relevance

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) often causes a prolonged and persistent infection, and an association between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HCV infection has been noted. The pathogenesis of liver damage is at least in part related to virus-mediated factors. Understanding the molecular basis of pathogenesis is a major challenge in gaining insight into HCV-associated disease progression. Recent experimental evidence using HCV cloned genomic regions suggests that the core protein has numerous functional activities. These include its likely role in encapsidation of viral RNA, a regulatory effect on cellular and unrelated viral promoters, interactions with a number of cellular proteins, an modulatory role in programmed cell death or apoptosis under certain conditions, involvement in cell growth promotion and immortalization, induction of HCC in transgenic mice, and a possible immunoregulatory role. These intriguing properties suggest that the core protein, in concert with cellular factors, may contribute to pathogenesis during persistent HCV infection.     

丙型肝炎病毒ns2基因的克隆及其表达

以p90-HCV为模板,通过PCR分别得到全长和截短(2881-3078bp)ns2基因。将截短ns2基因克隆到pET32a原核表达载体,并在大肠杆菌中获得了Trx-His-NS2C融合蛋白的可溶性高表达。通过His树脂纯化得到融合蛋白,免疫家兔获得高效价高特异性的抗体。同时构建了含有全长ns2基因的重组腺病毒,利用该重组病毒感染HepG2和293细胞成功的表达23.2kDa的NS2蛋白。本文的研究为进一步开展NS2蛋白的结构与功能研究奠定了良好的基础。