Oncostatin M synergistically inhibits HCV RNA replication in combination with interferon-alpha.
Oncostatin M (OSM), a member of the interleukin-6 family, possesses various functions, including hepatocyte differentiation and suppression of melanoma cell growth. Here, we report anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) activity of OSM as a new function of this cytokine. OSM possessed marked anti-HCV activity (50% effective concentration: 0.71 ng/ml) in an HCV RNA replication cell culture system. The most striking finding is that OSM exhibited synergistic inhibitory activity on interferon (IFN)-alpha even at a low concentration with weak anti-HCV activity, such as 25 pg/ml. OSM is a candidate anti-HCV reagent and may improve the current IFN therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Ikeda
Masanori
M
Department of Tumor Virology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. maikeda@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
Mori
Kyoko
K
Ariumi
Yasuo
Y
Dansako
Hiromichi
H
Kato
Nobuyuki
N