Hepatitis C core protein impairs insulin downstream signalling and regulatory role of IGFBP-1 expression

Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), mainly genotype 1, has been shown to be associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this association are partly understood. Increased levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α occurring in HCV infection have an important role in HCV-mediated insulin resistance; however, other direct effects of HCV core protein on disrupting insulin signalling have been suggested. The insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins are key players in insulin signal transduction and are the major substrates of the insulin receptor. To further elucidate the direct effect of HCV core protein on insulin signalling. We studied the direct effects of HCV core protein in two cell lines transfected with HCV core protein. We found several impairments in the insulin signalling cascade which could be attributed to a significant proteasomal degradation of IRS-1 protein, in a dose-dependent way. In addition, our data show that liver cells transfected by HCV core protein show a marked attenuation of the regulatory inhibitory role of insulin on insulin growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) expression. Since IGFBP-1 may have a role in glucose regulation and hepatic insulin sensitivity, this effect of HCV core protein can contribute to insulin resistance in chronic HCV infection. Our data suggest that the degradation of IRS-1 by HCV core protein translates to impaired ability of insulin to inhibit the expression of the target gene IGFBP-1 in the liver and may serve as a novel mechanism for insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia.