• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.169-172
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• 2014

Recently, Hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication system has been established using human hepatoma cells (huh cell) and a variety of HCV clones. In this study, we established an infectious HCV replication system using huh7.5 cells and J6/JFH1 clone (genotype 2a). In addition, we investigated the antigen presentation capability of HCV-infected huh7.5 cells to HCV-specific T cells. Interestingly, HCV-infected huh7.5 cells were not capable of activating HCV-specific T cells. However, huh7.5 cells stimulated by exogenous HCV peptide were able to activate HCV-specific T cells, which was shown to produce TNF-${\alpha}$ and IFN-${\gamma}$. We further examined if HCV infection has an inhibitory effect on the expression of MHC class I molecule of huh7.5 cells. We found that HCV infection did not change the expression level of MHC class I molecule on huh7.5 cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.2
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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.