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[The mechanism for up-regulation of HLA-I expression on HepG2 cells by HBV]
Wei-hong Chen1, Jin Ding, Wei-dong Gong
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, China. chenwhong101@163.com
Aim:
To explore the mechanism of up-regulation of HLA-I expression on HepG2 cells by wild type (WT) and nucleocapsid mutants(L97 and V60) of hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Methods:
The HBV-stable expression vectors EBO-WT, EBO-L97 and EBO-V60 were transfected into HepG2 cells via the liposome mediation, respectively. The cells were assayed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR for HLA-A gene and antigen presentation-related genes LMP2, TAP1, and tapasin mRNA expression. Western blot was applied for analysis of HLA-I protein expression in the cells.
Results:
HepG2 cells transfected by the 3 HBV expression vectors expressed HLA-A and TAP1, while there was no expression of HLA-A and only marginal expression of TAP1 in HepG2 cells transfected by control vector EBO. The expression level of HLA-A in the transfected cells decreased successively in the order of EBO-L97, EBO-WT and EBO-V60. There was no significant difference in the expression level of TAP1 between HepG2 cells transfected by the 3 HBV expression vectors. No detectable expression of LMP2 and tapasin was observed for all transfected cells.
Conclusion:
HBV can induce the expression of HLA-I molecule and TAP1 in HepG2 cells.
