Complex formation between hepatitis C virus core protein and p21Waf1/Cip1/Sdi1

The core protein (Core) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been known to play an important role in hepatocarcinogenesis. By using glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assay, we show here that Core formed a complex with p21Waf1/Cip1/Sdi1 (p21) cell cycle regulator. The deletion-mapping analysis revealed that a portion near the N-terminus of Core (amino acids 24-52) and a C-terminal portion of p21 (amino acids 139-164) were involved in the complex formation. The complex formation was not impaired by point mutations of p21 at residues 147, 149, and 150, which have been reported to abrogate interaction of p21 with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), discriminating the Core-binding sequence from the PCNA-binding sequence. Due to the close vicinity of the binding sites, however, Core and PCNA competed with each other when interacting with p21. The distinct interaction between Core and p21 may provide a new aspect to the studies of HCV pathogenesis.