title: Hepatitis C virus infection causes iron deficiency in Huh7.5.1 cells.
abstract: Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection frequently develop systemic iron overload, which exacerbates morbidity. Nevertheless, iron inhibits HCV replication in cell culture models and thereby exerts antiviral activity. We hypothesized that the cellular iron status is crucial for the establishment of HCV infection. We show that HCV infection of permissive Huh7.5.1 hepatoma cells promotes an iron deficient phenotype. Thus, HCV leads to increased iron regulatory protein (IRP) activity, accumulation of IRP2 and suppression of transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) in the host. These data suggest that HCV regulates cellular iron levels to bypass iron-mediated inhibition in viral replication.
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fillebeen
authors.affiliation: Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ; Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pantopoulos
mesh_terms: D027682:Cation Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D035925:Iron-Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D000099236:Solute Carrier Family 11, Member 2
chemical_list: D027682:Cation Transport Proteins; D007501:Iron; D035925:Iron-Regulatory Proteins; D000099236:Solute Carrier Family 11, Member 2