Interferon-inducible gene expression in chimpanzee liver infected with hepatitis C virus.
The molecular host response to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was examined by isolation of HCV-induced genes from a cDNA library constructed from chimpanzee liver during the acute phase of hepatitis C. Two cDNA clones, 130-7 and 130-51, were obtained by differential hybridization with cDNA probes prepared from poly(A)+ RNAs of infected and uninfected livers. Northern blot analysis revealed that the 130-7 and 130-51 cDNAs were expressed as 1.5- and 1.0-kb products, respectively, in chimpanzee liver and that their induction rates of the two were 20 and 4, respectively. Nucleotide sequence analyses of these cDNA inserts showed that the sequence of cDNA 130-7 was that of a class I major histocompatibility antigen and that the sequence of cDNA 130-51 was 98% homologous with a human interferon-inducible mRNA. These results suggest that HCV infection may actively induce interferon, which in turn induces the expressions of these interferon-inducible genes. Furthermore, the high expression of HLA class I antigen in the acute phase of hepatitis C suggests that liver cell injury in HCV infection may be mediated by cytotoxic T cells that recognize viral antigen in association with HLA class I antigen.
Kato
T
T
Medical Research Institute, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Esumi
M
M
Yamashita
S
S
Abe
K
K
Shikata
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000235:genetics*; D007372:Interferons / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000382:microbiology; D000637:Transaminases / Q000097:blood
D015236:HLA-C Antigens; D007372:Interferons; D000637:Transaminases