The hepatitis C virus (HCV) 5' untranslated region (UTR) has been extensively studied with regard to its internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) activity. In this work we present results suggesting the existence of a strong promoter activity carried by the DNA sequence corresponding to the HCV 5' UTR. This activity was not detected when the HCV 5' UTR sequence was replaced by HCV 3' UTR or poliovirus 5' UTR sequences. These results were further confirmed by using bicistronic constructions. We demonstrated the presence of an mRNA initiated in this 5' UTR sequence and located the initiation site by the 5' RACE method at nucleotide 67. Furthermore, northern experiments and flow cytometry analysis showed the unambiguous activity of such a promoter sequence in stably transfected cells. Our results strongly suggest that the data obtained using bicistronic DNA constructs carrying the HCV 5' UTR should be analyzed not only at the translational but also at the transcriptional level.

Seven nucleotide changes characteristic of the hepatitis C virus genotype 3 59 untranslated region: correlation with reduced in vitro replication Computer analysis of 158 hepatitis C virus (HCV) 59 untranslated region (59 UTR) sequences from the six genotypes showed that the 59 UTR from genotype 3 displays seven specific non-contiguous nucleotide changes, at positions 8, 13, 14, 70, 97, 203 and 224. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these changes on translation and replication activities. Indeed, these modifications could alter both the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) present in the 59 UTR of the plus-strand RNA and the 39 end of the minus strand involved in the initiation of plus-strand RNA synthesis. We found that the genotype 3-specific nucleotide changes do not modify the in vitro or ex vivo translation activity of the corresponding IRES, in comparison with that of genotype 1. In contrast, in vitro replication from the minus-strand RNA is eight times less efficient for genotype 3 than for genotype 1 RNA, suggesting the involvement of some nucleotide changes in the reduction of RNA synthesis. Nucleotides 13, 14 and 224 were found to be responsible for this effect. Moreover, a reduced replicative activity was confirmed ex vivo for genotype 3, but to a lesser extent than that observed in vitro, using an RNA minigenome. INTRODUCTIONHepatitis C virus (HCV) affects nearly 200 million people worldwide. Five to seven per cent of patients die as a consequence of liver disease. Hepatic steatosis is a common feature of liver biopsy specimens from patients with chronic hepatitis C, and its presence is associated with fibrotic progression (Rubbia-Brandt et al., 2000). Numerous factors including gender, age of infection, alcohol consumption, exposure to other hepatotoxins and perturbation of lipid metabolism have been identified as determinants of pathogenesis. Viral factors may also be critical determinants of steatosis in chronic hepatitis C, particularly HCV genotype (Rubbia-Brandt et al., 2004). Genetic variability of the RNA genome has made it possible to distinguish six HCV genotypes and over 70 subtypes (Simmonds et al., 2005). Each of these genotypes displays particular features such as resistance to interferon/ribavirin treatments. Thus, genotype 1-infected patients respond less efficiently to therapy than those infected with genotype 2 and 3 viruses. Conversely, patients with HCV genotype 3 infection and chronic hepatitis C are more likely to be subjected to a liver steatosis than those infected with HCV genotype 1 (Lonardo et al., 2006). Viral determinants of this differential progression are as yet poorly understood. It has been suspected that sequence variations in the envelope E1 and E2 glycoproteins might be involved in differences in pathogenesis between genotypes 1 and 3 (Shaw et al., 2003). More recently, in vitro models suggested involvement of the core protein as a viral factor associated with lipid accumulation in genotype 3 infection (Abid et al., 2005;Hourioux et al., 20...

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