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Development of a Hepatitis B Virus Reporter System to Monitor the Early Stages of the Replication Cycle
Published on: February 1, 2017
ERK signaling is triggered by hepatitis C virus E2 protein through DC-SIGN
Lan-Juan Zhao1, Wen Wang, Hao Ren
1Department of Microbiology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Biodefense, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) is a binding receptor for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Binding of HCV envelope protein E2 to target cells is a prerequisite to DC-SIGN-mediated signaling. Using cell lines with stable or transient expression of DC-SIGN, we investigated effects of soluble HCV E2 protein on ERK pathway. MEK and ERK are activated by the E2 in NIH3T3 cells stably expressing DC-SIGN. Treatment of the cells with antibody to DC-SIGN results in inhibition of the E2 binding as well as the E2-induced MEK and ERK activation. In HEK293T cells transiently expressing DC-SIGN, activation of MEK and ERK is also induced by the E2. Activation of ERK pathway by HCV E2 through DC-SIGN provides useful information for understanding cellular receptor-mediated signaling.
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