• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.151-155
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• 2009

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has genetic diversity like most of RNA viruses. HCV major genotypes are classified into several subtypes which are further divided into quasispecies having, genetically different but closely related variants. The HCV core that is a nucleocapsid protein located at the amino terminus of the viral polyprotein is relatively a conserved protein among the HCV isolates and thus it has been one of plausible targets for anti-HCV drug development. However, different quasispecies of HCV core gene have also been found. In this study, we compared the expression level of core protein between two different quasispecies of HCV genotype 1b. Our data demonstrate that a little differences of amino acid sequence lead to substantial difference of expression level. It might be another important reason of different pathogenesis among HCV infected patients.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제28권9호
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• pp.1007-1015
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• 2018

E6AP (E6-associated protein)는 C형 간염바이러스(hepatitis C virus, HCV)의 코어 단백질 유비퀴틴화와 프로테오좀 분해를 유도하여 캡시드 조립을 저해함으로써 HCV 복제를 억제하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 반면에 HCV 코어 단백질은 숙주의 항바이러스 방어계에 대항하고 자신의 유비퀴틴-의존적 프로테아좀 분해를 막기 위하여 DNA 메틸화를 통하여 E6AP 발현을 저해하는 전략을 진화과정에서 획득하였다. 본 연구에서는 HCV 코어 단백질이 E6AP 발현을 저해하는 기전을 밝혀내고자 하였다. HCV 코어 단백질은 HepG2 세포에서 DNA 메틸화 효소들인 DNMT1, 3a 및 3b의 단백질 수준과 효소 활성을 증가시켜 프로모터 과메틸화를 통하여 E6AP 발현을 저해하였지만 p53를 발현하지 않는 Hep3B 세포에서는 이러한 효과들이 관찰되지 않았다. 흥미롭게도 Hep3B 세포에 p53만 과발현시키면 HCV 코어 단백질이 없더라도 DNMT가 활성화되고 프로모터 과메틸화를 통하여 E6AP 발현이 저해되었다. 또한 p53 녹다운 및 과발현 실험을 통하여 p53 활성화가 HCV 코어 단백질의 효과에 필수적임을 알 수 있었다. 이로 인하여 Hep3B 보다 HepG2 세포에서 낮은 수준의 유비퀴틴화된 HCV 코어 단백질이 검출되었다. 따라서 HCV 코어 단백질은 p53-의존적으로 자신의 유비퀴틴-매개성 프로테아좀 분해를 저해한다.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.100-106
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• 1995

직접적인 근거를 제시하기는 힘드나 정신장애에서 자가면역적 요소가 병인적으로 중요하다는 단편적인 보고들이 있다. 특히 바이러스 감염은 정신장애를 유발하거나 나중에 정신장애에 대한 소지를 증가시킬 가능성이 높다. 저자들은 최근에 많은 관심을 끌고 있는 C형 간염 항체(이하 anti-HCV)의 양성율이 자가면역적 관점 및 수혈 외에도 성행위 또는 약물의 존자에서 많다는 전파경로상의 특정 때문에 정신과 환자에서 일반 인구군보다 높을 것으로 추정되어 이를 확인해 보고자 본 연구를 시행하였다. 1992년 12월 초부터 1994년 5월 말까지 정신과에 입원한 환자 중에서 무작위로 효소면역측정법 (Abbott HCV EIA kit) 에 의해서 혈청내 anti-HCV를 검사하였으며, anti-HCV 양성 환자와 anti-HCV 음성인 환자를 구분하여 여러 변인별로 비교 분석하였다. 정신과 입원환자 113명중 12명(10.6%) 에서 anti-HCV 양성이었다. anti-HCV 양성자중 간기능검사상 이상이 있는 경우가 50.0% 로서 이중 83.0%는 주정 의존자였으며, 간기능검사상 정상인 환자의 83.3%는 비주정의존자였다. 정신과 진단별 anti-HCV 양성율은 주정의존 환자의 22.2%, 정신증 환자의 2.3% (주로 양극성장애), 신경증(불안장애, 적응장애)환자의 22.2%에서 anti-HCV 양성이 나타났다. 연령, 출생계절, 임파구(%), 간기능 등 변인에 대한 유의한 상관성은 관찰되지 않았다. 결론적으로 정신과 입원환자는 정상 대조군 (3.0%)에 비해 최소한 3.5배 이상 anti-HCV 양성율이 높으므로 (P<0.05), 이에 대한 주의를 환기시킬 필요가 있다.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.109-115
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• 1999

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been identified as an important cause of posttransfusion hepatitis, but vertical transmission of chronic infected HCV RNA positive mothers has been documented in some cases. The reports of the risk of perinatal infection have been widely varied in the literature. The authors experienced one case of vertical transmission of HCV in an infant of a mother who had hepatitis C during pregnancy. At admission, HCV RNA (+), Ig G anti HCV (+) and Ig M anti HCV (+) were found in the mother. Also at admission, HCV RNA (+), Ig G anti HCV (+), Ig M anti HCV (+), elevation of liver aminotransferase level and hepatosplenomegaly on ultrasonography were found in the baby on day 31. HCV RNA (-), Ig M anti HCV (-) and normal of liver aminotransferase level were noted on day 250 in the serum of the infant. We used reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique to find a very small amount of HCV RNA in the serum. All the findings suggest vertical transmission of HCV RNA from mother to infant during 3rd trimester of pregnancy.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.361-364
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• 2004

Internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to be essential for HCV replication and most conserved among HCV variants. Hence, IRES RNA is a good therapeutic target for RNA-based inhibitors, such as ribozymes. We previously proposed a new anti-HCV modulation strategy based on trans-splicing ribozymes, which can selectively replace HCV transcripts with a new RNA that exerts anti-HCV activity. To explore this procedure, sites which are accessible to ribozymes in HCV IRES were previously determined by employing an RNA mapping method in vitro. In this study, we evaluate the intracellular accessibility of the ribozymes by comparing the trans-splicing activ­ities in cells of several ribozymes targeting different sites of the HCV IRES RNA. We assessed the intra­cellular activities of the ribozymes by monitoring their target-specific induction degree of both reporter gene activity and cytotoxin expression. The ribozyme capable of targeting the most accessible site iden­tified by the mapping studies then harbored the most active trans-splicing activity in cells. These results suggest that the target sites predicted to be accessible are truly the most accessible in the cells, and thus, could be applied to the development of various RNA-based anti-HCV therapies.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.97-106
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• 2013

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is responsible for the development of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV core protein plays not only a structural role in the virion morphogenesis by encapsidating a virus RNA genome but also a non-structural role in HCV-induced pathogenesis by blocking innate immunity. Especially, it has been shown to regulate JAK-STAT signaling pathway through its direct interaction with Janus kinase (JAK) via its proline-rich JAK-binding motif ($^{79}{\underline{P}}GY{\underline{P}}WP^{84}$). However, little is known about the physiological significance of this HCV core-JAK association in the context of the virus life cycle. In order to gain an insight, a mutant HCV genome (J6/JFH1-79A82A) was constructed to express the mutant core with a defective JAK-binding motif ($^{79}{\underline{A}}GY{\underline{A}}WP^{84}$) using an HCV genotype 2a infectious clone (J6/JFH1). When this mutant HCV genome was introduced into hepatocarcinoma cells, it was found to be severely impaired in its ability to produce infectious viruses in spite of its robust RNA genome replication. Taken together, all these results suggest an essential requirement of HCV core-JAK protein interaction for efficient production of infectious viruses and the potential of using core-JAK blockers as a new anti-HCV therapy.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.32-37
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• 2010

The author was performed to investigation of current status of prevalence for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) among the health-checkup adults in Jeonbuk province. A toal of 1,553 (male 1,046, female 507) serum samples were diagnosed by 3rd generation enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for anti-HCV. Total prevalence of anti-HCV was 0.9%, and prevalence of male and female were 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively. The prevalence of female was higher than male. According to ages group, prevalence of anti-HCV was highest in 60 age group, but it was not found in 20 age group. 14 samples with anti-HCV positive were diagnosed by EIA for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBs Ag), by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) for serum albumin, alanine transaminase (ALT) and asparagine transaminase (AST). Positive for HBs Ag was not found. The mean of serum albumin levels was 4.5 g/dL, and mean of ALT and AST were 34.3 IU and 31.9 IU, respectively. Through this study, I know that the prevalence of anti-HCV among adults in Jeonbuk, and suggest that the positive of anti-HCV persons who have lower serum albumin, normal to mild elevations in serum enzymes are chronic hepatitis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제16권10호
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• pp.1634-1639
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• 2006

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-encoded nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) possesses RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity, which is considered essential for viral proliferation. Thus, HCV NS5B is a good therapeutic target protein for the development of anti-HCV agents. In this study, we isolated two different kinds of nuclease-resistant RNA aptamers with 2'-fluoro pyrimidines against the HCV NS5B from a combinatorial RNA library with 40 nucleotide random sequences, using SELEX technology. The isolated RNA aptamers were observed to specifically and avidly bind the HCV NS5B with an apparent $K_d$ of 5 nM and 18 nM, respectively, in contrast with the original RNA library that hardly bound the target protein. Moreover, these aptamers could partially inhibit RNA synthesis of the HCV subgenomic replicon when transfected into Huh-7 hepatoma cell lines. These results suggest that the RNA aptamers selected in vitro could be useful not only as therapeutic agents of HCV infection but also as a powerful tool for the study of the HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase mechanism.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.59-64
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• 2006

Unlike other viral polymerases, HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) has not been successfully inhibited by nucleoside analogues presumably due to its strong substrate specificity for RNA. Thus, in order to understand the RNA-specificity of HCV RdRp, the structural characteristics of the active site was investigated. The hereto unknown 2-OH binding pocket at the active site of RdRp provides invaluable implication for the development of novel anti-HCV nucleoside analogues.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.205-216
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• 2016

본 연구에서는 한국인 성인에서 ant-HCV 양성인 군에서 HCV RNA 유무에 따른 지질, 인슐린저항성 및 대사증후군의 지표 수준의 차이를 알아보고자 하였다. 2004년 1월 1일부터 2010년 12월 31일까지 부산의 일개 대학병원 건강증진센터를 방문하여 검사한 효소면역측정법에서 anti-HCV 양성인 수진자 중 RT-PCR을 시행한 성인 222명을 대상으로 하였다. 이 중 HCV RNA가 양성인 사람이 85명, HCV RNA가 음성인 사람이 115명, HCV RNA의 음전이 확인된 사람이 22명이었다. 허리둘레, 체질량지수, 혈압과 총콜레스테롤, LDL 콜레스테롤, HDL 콜레스테롤, 중성지방, 인슐린저항성의 상관 관계를 분석하고, 나이, 성별을 보정한 후 세 군간의 콜레스테롤, 대사적 지표, 인슐린저항성의 차이를 알아보았다. HCV RNA 양성군에서 음성군 및 음전군과 비교하여 허리둘레, 체질량지수, 혈압, 중성지방, HDL 콜레스테롤, 인슐린저항성 등에 통계적으로 유의한 차이는 없었다. HCV RNA 양성군에서 음성군에 비해 총콜레스테롤과 LDL 콜레스테롤이 통계적으로 유의하게 낮았다($186.24{\pm}37.63$ vs $197.22{\pm}37.23mg/dl$ ($mean{\pm}SD$), p=0.041, $111.66{\pm}34.06$ vs $121.38{\pm}35.50mg/dl$ ($mean{\pm}SD$), p=0.042). 나이, 성별을 보정한 뒤, HCV RNA 양성군과 음성군 간에 고콜레스테롤혈증과 LDL 콜레스테롤혈증의 교차비는 0.51(95% 신뢰구간 0.28-0.94, p=0.03), 0.46(95% 신뢰구간 0.24~0.87, p=0.02)이다. HCV RNA 양성군에서 음성군에 비해 고콜레스테롤혈증, LDL 콜레스테롤혈증의 유병률이 통계학적으로 유의하게 낮았으나, HCV RNA 음전군은 양성군에 비하여 통계학적으로 유의한 차이가 없었다. C형 간염과 대사증후군의 관계를 보다 정확히 규명하기 위해서는 향후 보다 대규모 집단에서 전향적인 코호트 연구가 필요할 것으로 생각된다.