|
KMID : 0578320110320020167
|
|
Molecules and Cells
2011 Volume.32 No. 2 p.167 ~ p.172
|
|
|
PKR-Dependent Mechanisms of Interferon-α for Inhibiting Hepatitis B Virus Replication
|
|
Park Il-Hyun
Baek Kyung-Won
Cho Eun-Young
Ahn Byung-Yoon
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) inhibits the replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vivo and in vitro, but the molecular mechanism of this inhibition has been elusive. We found that while HBV replication in transfected human hepatoma Huh-7 cell was severely inhibited by IFN-alpha treatment as reported previously, this inhibition was markedly impaired in the cell in which the expression of IFN-inducible, double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) was stably and spe-cifically suppressed through RNA-interfer-ence. Intracellular level of viral capsids was down-regu-lated likewise in a PKR-dependent manner, whereas that of HBV transcripts including the viral RNA pregenome was not affected by IFN-alpha treatment. Ectopic expression of PKR also resulted in the reduction of viral capsids with concomitant increase of phosphorylated eIF2alpha. These results suggested that PKR functions as a key mediator of IFN-alpha in opposing HBV replication, most likely through the inhibition of protein synthesis.
|
|
|
KEYWORD
|
|
|
antiviral mechanism, Hepatitis B virus, IFN-α, PKR
|
|
|
FullTexts / Linksout information
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listed journal information
|
|
  
|