Viral Hepatitis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 15, 2004; 10(20): 2972-2978
Published online Oct 15, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i20.2972
Expression of hepatitis C virus envelope protein 2 induces apoptosis in cultured mammalian cells
Li-Xin Zhu, Jing Liu, You-Hua Xie, Yu-Ying Kong, Ye Ye, Chun-Lin Wang, Guang-Di Li, Yuan Wang
Li-Xin Zhu, Jing Liu, You-Hua Xie, Yu-Ying Kong, Ye Ye, Chun-Lin Wang, Guang-Di Li, Yuan Wang, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China, No. 2001AA215171
Correspondence to: Professor Yuan Wang, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yueyang Road 320, Shanghai 200031, China. wangyuan@server.shcnc.ac.cn
Telephone: +86-21-54921103
Received: December 24, 2003
Revised: January 11, 2004
Accepted: February 13, 2004
Published online: October 15, 2004
Abstract

AIM: To explore the role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) envelope protein 2 (E2) in the induction of apoptosis.

METHODS: A carboxyterminal truncated E2 (E2-661) was transiently expressed in several cultured mammalian cell lines or stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3H thymidine uptake. Apoptosis was examined by Hoechst 33258 staining, flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation analysis.

RESULTS: Reduced proliferation was readily observed in the E2-661 expressing cells. These cells manifested the typical features of apoptosis, including cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and hypodiploid genomic DNA content. Similar apoptotic cell death was observed in an E2-661 stably expressing cell line.

CONCLUSION: HCV E2 can induce apoptosis in cultured mammalian cells.

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