Stable Huh-7 cell lines expressing non-structural proteins of genotype 1a of hepatitis C virus

作者：Shahid Imran; Gull Sana; Ijaz Bushra; Ahmad Waqar; Ansar Muhammad; Asad Sultan; Kausar Humera; Sarwar Muhammad Tahir; Khan Muhammad Kazim; Hassan Sajida^*

来源：Journal of Virological Methods, 2013, 189(1): 65-69.

DOI：10.1016/j.jviromet.2013.01.005

• Hepatitis C virus
• Stable Huh-7 cell line
• Non-structural proteins
• Genotype 1a
• Therapeutic strategies
• HCV pathogenesis

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has infected approximately 3% of the world population. HCV genotype la is distributed throughout the world, and along with genotype 1b, is relatively resistant to current standards of therapy compared to other HCV genotypes. The present study was designed to produce stable Huh-7 cell lines expressing non-structural proteins of HCV genotype la, representing an in vitro system to facilitate the development of new antiviral drugs against chronic HCV infection. The non-structural genes of HCV genotype la were amplified and cloned in a mammalian expression vector pCR3.1/FlagTag. Huh-7 cells were transfected with one of two expression plasmids, the first containing the NS2, NS3, and NS4a cassette, and second containing the NS5a and NS5b genes. Stable cell lines were produced under the selection of gentamycin (G418). mRNA and protein expression analysis was performed by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The RT-PCR and Western blot results confirmed the stable expression of each of the gene products. Stable Huh-7 cell lines with HCV la non-structural proteins may be helpful for evaluating the role of HCV proteins in molecular pathogenesis, and could facilitate the development of new therapeutic drugs.

• 出版日期2013-4