HCV F protein, a protein correlating with HCV pathogenesis

摘要

In addition to the 10 gene products, Hepatitis C virus (HCV) produces a novel protein, known as F protein. F protein is encoded by an open reading frame (ORF) that overlaps the core gene in the+1 frame (core+1 ORF). In an attempt to understand the biological functions of the F protein, we have expressed the alternative HCV core protein, a+1 frameshifting at codon 42 followed by a rephasing in the normal open reading frame at stop codon 144, from the genotype 1b are expressed in E. coli. We demonstrate that the expression of HCV-1b F protein using Weastern blotting and is regulated by HCV core protein expression. Further, we show that F protein is correlated with the HCV pathogenesis. Thus, F protein may intimately linked to the molecular pathogenesis in HCV-infected individuals.