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Updated: Oct 9, 2026
A Protocol for Analyzing Hepatitis C Virus Replication
Published on: June 26, 2014
The effects of hepatitis C virus core protein on the expression of miR-122 in vitro
Sujuan Li1, Xiaokang Xing, Qiao Yang
1State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Background:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major pathogens of liver diseases. Some studies have previously reported that miR-122 can stimulate replication or translation of HCV. However, the effects of HCV infection on miR-122 expression are not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of HCV core protein on the expression of miR-122 in a cell culture model.
Results:
The miR-122 levels in Huh7.5.1 cells infected with HCV for different days or different HCV abundance were measured by real-time PCR. Significant decrease of miR-122 expression was found at late stage of infection and in the high-abundance group. Huh7.5.1 cells transfected with plasmid pEGFP-core or pEGFP were used to detect the effects of HCV core protein on miR-122 expression, the results showed that core protein could down-regulate the miR-122 expression level in a time- and dose- dependent manner, and reduced the susceptibility of Huh7.5.1 cell to HCV.
Conclusions:
Down-regulating miR-122 expression by HCV core protein may give a new insight into the interaction between HCV and miR-122 and chronic HCV infection.
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