Abstracts from XVII Mexican Congress of Hepatology
More infoHepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A and Core proteins play a key role in carcinogenesis development. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by HCV has been related to Snail and TGFβ1 upregulation and E-cadherin downregulation. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of HCV NS5A and Core proteins in the regulation of Snail, TGFβ1 and E-cadherin by transient transfection in the hepatoma cell system.
Materials and MethodologyHuh 7 cells were transfected with an empty vector, and 0.5 - 1.0μg of pNluc-NS5A-HCV or pCore-HCV plasmids for 24 - 48h and then proteins and RNA were extracted. NS5A protein expression was measured by NanoLuc activity. Core, Snail, TGFβ1 and E-cadherin protein levels were evaluated by Western Blot. NS5A and Core transcripts were quantified by RT-qPCR. Relative expression of SNAI, TGFβ1 and CDH1 was calculated in relation to ACTB and GAPDH endogenous expression.
ResultsViral NS5A and Core proteins were expressed in transfected Huh 7 cells. Transient transfection with pNluc-NS5A-HCV upregulated snail expression (4-fold) but downregulated E-cadherin expression (0.6-fold) at 24h. In addition, upregulated TGFβ1 expression (4-fold) and downregulates E-cadherin expression (0.7-fold) at 48h compared to the control. Meanwhile, transfection of pCore-HCV for 24h upregulated snail expression (2-fold); in contrast, it downregulated E-cadherin expression (0.3-fold) compared to control at 48h.
DiscussionSnail and TGFβ1 upregulation and E-cadherin downregulation had been associated with HCV infection in other studies. Our results suggest that HCV NS5A and Core have a direct role in EMT.
ConclusionHepatitis C virus regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition biomarkers by NS5A and Core proteins expression in hepatoma cells.
FundingThe resources used in this study were from the hospital without any additional financing
Declaration of interestThe authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.
