HCV F PROTEIN, UNLIKE CORE PROTEIN, CAN NOT REGULATE HTERT AND P53 PROMOTER ACTIVITIES

摘要

Previous results have suggested that HCV core protein transcriptionally regulates cellular and viral genes, such as human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and p53, etc. Recent researchers identified a novel F protein that was synthesized from the initiation codon of the core protein followed by a ribosomal frame shift into the +1 reading frame. Then we evaluated the regulatory role of F protein on hTERT and p53 promoter by an in vitro transfection assay. The results revealed that the HCV core protein indeed caused up-regulation of hTERT and down-regulation of p53. However, F protein did not significantly relative to negative control. In conclusion, our results suggested that F protein can not regulate hTERT and p53 promoter, which were previously attributable to core protein expression.