title: Hepatitis C virus NS5A protein interacts with and negatively regulates the non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase Syk.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major causative agent of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the precise mechanism underlying the carcinogenesis is yet to be elucidated. It has recently been reported that Syk, a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase, functions as a potent tumour suppressor in human breast carcinoma. This study first examined the possible effect of HCV infection on expression of Syk in vivo. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that endogenous Syk, which otherwise was expressed diffusely in the cytoplasm of normal hepatocytes, was localized near the cell membrane with a patchy pattern in HCV-infected hepatocytes. The possible interaction between HCV proteins and Syk in human hepatoma-derived Huh-7 cells was then examined. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that NS5A interacted strongly with Syk. Deletion-mutation analysis revealed that an N-terminal portion of NS5A (aa 1-175) was involved in the physical interaction with Syk. An in vitro kinase assay demonstrated that NS5A inhibited the enzymic activity of Syk and that, in addition to the N-terminal 175 residues, a central portion of NS5A (aa 237-302) was required for inhibition of Syk. Moreover, Syk-mediated phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma1 was downregulated by NS5A. An interaction of NS5A with Syk was also detected in Huh-7.5 cells harbouring an HCV RNA replicon or infected with HCV. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that NS5A interacts with Syk resulting in negative regulation of its kinase activity. The results indicate that NS5A may be involved in the carcinogenesis of hepatocytes through the suppression of Syk kinase activities.
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inubushi
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagano-Fujii
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Kikumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitayama
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Motofumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Chunying
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgical Pathology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokozaki
authors.affiliation: Hyogo Laboratory, Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Kobe 652-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirohei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo 113-8613, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nuriya
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo 113-8613, Japan.
authors.forename: Michinori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohara
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyonao
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sada
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Hak
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hotta
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D015536:Down-Regulation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051966:Phospholipase C gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D000072377:Syk Kinase; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051966:Phospholipase C gamma; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D000072377:Syk Kinase; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C000606896:SYK protein, human; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase