Different responses of two highly permissive cell lines upon HCV infection

The construction of the first infectious clone JFH-1 speeds up the research on hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, Huh7 cell line was the only highly permissive cell line for HCV infection and only a few clones were fully permissive. In this study, two different fully permissive clones of Huh7 cells, Huh7.5.1 and Huh7-Lunet-CD81 (Lunet-CD81) cells were compared for their responses upon HCV infection. The virus replication level was found slightly higher in Huh7.5.1 cells than that in Lunet-CD81 cells. Viability of Huh7.5.1 cells but not of Lunet-CD81 cells was reduced significantly after HCV infection. Further analysis showed that the cell cycle of infected Huh7.5.1 cells was arrested at G1 phase. The G1/S transition was blocked by HCV infection in Huh7.5.1 cells as shown by the cell cycle synchronization analysis. Genes related to cell cycle regulation was modified by HCV infection and gene interaction analysis in GeneSpring GX in Direct Interactions mode highlighted 31 genes. In conclusion, the responses of those two cell lines were different upon HCV infection. HCV infection blocked G1/S transition and cell cycle progress, thus reduced the cell viability in Huh7.5.1 cells but not in Lunet-CD81 cells. Lunet-CD81 cells might be suitable for long term infection studies of HCV.