A cDNA that encodes a novel Na ؉ -independent neutral amino acid transporter was isolated from FLC4 human hepatocarcinoma cells by expression cloning. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, the encoded protein designated LAT3 (L-type amino acid transporter 3) transported neutral amino acids such as L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-valine, and L-phenylalanine. The LAT3-mediated transport was Na ؉ -independent and inhibited by 2-aminobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-carboxylic acid, consistent with the properties of system L. Distinct from already known system L transporters LAT1 and LAT2, which form heterodimeric complex with 4F2 heavy chain, LAT3 was functional by itself in Xenopus oocytes. The deduced amino acid sequence of LAT3 was identical to the gene product of POV1 reported as a prostate cancer-upregulated gene whose function was not determined, whereas it did not exhibit significant similarity to already identified transporters. The Eadie-Hofstee plots of LAT3-mediated transport were curvilinear, whereas the low affinity component is predominant at physiological plasma amino acid concentration. In addition to amino acid substrates, LAT3 recognized amino acid alcohols. The transport of L-leucine was electroneutral and mediated by a facilitated diffusion. In contrast, L-leucinol, Lvalinol, and L-phenylalaninol, which have a net positive charge induced inward currents under voltage clamp, suggesting these compounds are transported by LAT3. LAT3-mediated transport was inhibited by the pretreatment with N-ethylmaleimide, consistent with the property of system L2 originally characterized in hepatocyte primary culture. Based on the substrate selectivity, affinity, and N-ethylmaleimide sensitivity, LAT3 is proposed to be a transporter subserving system L2. LAT3 should denote a new family of organic solute transporters.

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Lack of efficient culture systems for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been a major obstacle in HCV research. Human liver cells grown in a three-dimensional radial-flow bioreactor were successfully infected following inoculation with plasma from an HCV carrier. Subsequent detection of increased HCV RNA suggested viral replication. Furthermore, transfection of HCV RNA transcribed from full-length cDNA also resulted in the production and release of HCV virions into supernatant. Infectivity was shown by successful secondary passage to a new culture. Introduction of mutations in RNA helicase and polymerase regions of HCV cDNA abolished virus replication, indicating that reverse genetics of this system is possible. The ability to replicate and detect the extracellular release of HCV might provide clues with regard to the persistent nature of HCV infection. It will also accelerate research into the pathogenicity of HCV, as well as the development of prophylactic agents and new therapy.

Despite high rates of loss of heterozygosity affecting various chromosomes, the number of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) found to be consistently involved in primary liver cancer is low. In the past decade, characterization of homozygous deletions (HDs) in tumors has become instrumental to identify new TSGs or to reveal the influence of a particular TSG on the development of a specific tumor type. We performed a detailed HD profiling at 238 critical loci on a collection of 57 hepatobiliary tumor cell lines (hepatocellular, cholangiocellular, and bile duct carcinomas, hepatoblastomas, and immortalized hepatocytes). We identified HDs at 9 independent loci, the analysis of which was extended to 17 additional hepatobiliary tumor cell lines. In total, 34 homozygous losses involving 9 distinct genes were detected in the 74 cell lines analyzed. Besides expected deletions at the p16-INK4A/p14-ARF, FHIT, AXIN1, and p53 genes, we detected HDs at the PTEN, NF2, STK11, BAX, and LRPDIT genes that were formerly not known to be implicated in human liver tumorigenesis. In conclusion, our data suggest that these genes may represent novel liver tumor suppressive targets. Additional tumorigenic pathways should be carefully considered in hepatocarcinogenesis. ( H epatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the main histologic form of primary liver cancer, is one of the most prevalent human tumors in the world. 1,2 Chronic infections of the liver by hepatitis B or hepatitis C viruses represent the dominant etiologies of HCC. 3 The historically recent spread of hepatitis C virus in human populations will result in a substantial increase in HCC incidence in developed countries and several epidemiologic surveys already have detected such a trend for the past 20 years in Japan, the United States, and Europe. 4,5 Until recently, chromosomal abnormalities occurring in HCC were defined poorly. We and others have performed allelotyping and comparative genomic hybridization studies to characterize the main chromosome targets in human liver tumorigenesis. 6-8 Only a handful of cancer genes are, however, consistently found mutated in this tumor type. p53 and AXIN1 genes are inactivated by somatic mutations in, respectively, 30% and 5% of cases, whereas p16-INK4A and SOCS1 are silenced through promoter hypermethylation in more than 50% of cases. 9-13 Finally, ␤-catenin, the only proto-oncogene previously found to be mutated in liver cancer, is activated in 20% of the samples. 14 The liver tumor-suppressive function of the product of the mannose-6-phosphate/insulinlike growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2/M6PR) gene is suspected but remains still controversial. 15,16 The past decade has seen the isolation of numerous tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) through the characterization of homozygous deletions (HDs) in primary tumors and cell lines. Although, HDs represent rare events, many of the TSG isolations, including WT1, p16-INK4A, BRCA2, FHIT, PTEN, SMAD4, and SNF5, were at least partly attributable to their detection. [17][18][19][20][21][22] In an attempt to

ObjectiveOncolytic viruses (OVs) represent promising, proinflammatory cancer treatments. Here, we explored whether OV-induced innate immune responses could simultaneously inhibit HCV while suppressing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Furthermore, we extended this exemplar to other models of virus-associated cancer.Design and resultsClinical grade oncolytic orthoreovirus (Reo) elicited innate immune activation within primary human liver tissue in the absence of cytotoxicity and independently of viral genome replication. As well as achieving therapy in preclinical models of HCC through the activation of innate degranulating immune cells, Reo-induced cytokine responses efficiently suppressed HCV replication both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Reo-induced innate responses were also effective against models of HBV-associated HCC, as well as an alternative endogenous model of Epstein–Barr virus-associated lymphoma. Interestingly, Reo appeared superior to the majority of OVs in its ability to elicit innate inflammatory responses from primary liver tissue.ConclusionsWe propose that Reo and other select proinflammatory OV may be used in the treatment of multiple cancers associated with oncogenic virus infections, simultaneously reducing both virus-associated oncogenic drive and tumour burden. In the case of HCV-associated HCC (HCV-HCC), Reo should be considered as an alternative agent to supplement and support current HCV-HCC therapies, particularly in those countries where access to new HCV antiviral treatments may be limited.

We constructed a full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) clone of hepatitis C virus (HCV) from a blood sample of an HCV carrier. The blood from the carrier was eventually transfused to a patient who later developed typical posttransfusion hepatitis C. It was also shown to be infectious to chimpanzees. We obtained 12 overlapping cDNA fragments altogether, covering the entire HCV genome. By subcloning and sequencing, clones considered to constitute the major population were selected. We could also detect 98 base pairs of extra sequences at the 3Ј end of the genome. After confirming the overlapping sequences, we combined the fragments to make a full-length cDNA. The HCV population in the donor was heterogeneous, as determined by their nucleotide sequences of the hypervariable region in envelope protein, but a few virus clones were selected in the recipient after transmission. The similar convergence of the virus population was previously observed when the same blood sample was injected into a chimpanzee. Interestingly, virus clones isolated during the acute phase in the recipient and the chimpanzee had sequences in the hypervariable region identical to that of the full-length cDNA clone. The full-length cDNA clone of HCV constructed in this study may originate from infectious virus clones.(HEPATOLOGY 1998;27:621-627.)Comparative study of the amino acid sequence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with those of flaviviruses and pestiviruses and gene expression experiments in bacteria, yeast, and animal cells have revealed that the proteins of HCV are processed by a host-derived signalase and cleaved by virus-coded proteases. [1][2][3][4][5] In vitro culture systems that support partial replication of this virus have been developed from human T-and B-cell lines, 6,7 human fetal hepatocytes, 8 chimpanzee hepatocytes, 9 and human primary hepatocytes. 10 However, fully efficient, long-term viral replication has not yet been established. To study the biology of HCV and its pathogenesis, it is essential to establish an efficient in vitro cell culture system or an infectious complementary DNA (cDNA) clone to support the complete replication of HCV.As a first step to construct an infectious cDNA clone of HCV, it is important to select an adequate sample containing infectious HCV. To date, a considerable number of ''complete'' clones of the HCV genome have been reported. However, it is not certain that those clones have truly originated from infectious HCV, because the materials used usually were pooled plasma samples. Furthermore, the plasma of HCV carriers or patients is generally composed of quasispecies of HCV population. 11 To construct an infectious cDNA clone of RNA viruses, it is crucial to retain both 5Ј and 3Ј ends of the sequence, which are highly conserved and are considered to play essential roles for RNA synthesis, transcription, and translation. 12 Many have reported that the 3Ј untranslated region (UTR) of HCV consisted of poly(U) [13][14][15][16] or poly(A) 17 homopolymer tracts. A novel 98-nucleotide (nt) sequence down...

ABSTRACT

CD98 heavy chain (CD98hc) is expressed highly in developing human placental trophoblast. CD98hc is an amino acid transporter and is thought to function in cell fusion, adhesion, and invasion by interacting with integrins. In invasive extravillous trophoblast, alpha(v)beta(3) integrin is expressed in a temporally and spatially specific manner, which prompted us to investigate the potential role of CD98hc in signal transduction of alpha(v)beta(3) integrin. Immunocytochemistry of extravillous trophoblast derived from human placenta revealed that CD98hc colocalized with alpha(v)beta(3) integrin and with alpha(v)beta(3)-associated cytoplasmic proteins including paxillin, vinculin, and focal adhesion kinase. Coimmunoprecipitation of CD98hc and its mutants revealed that the transmembrane domain of CD98hc is necessary for the association of CD98hc with alpha(v)beta(3) integrin. When CD98hc negative liver cells (FLC4) were stably transfected with CD98hc and the extracellular domain of CD98hc was cross-linked by anti-CD98 antibody, FLC4 cells binding affinity to fibronectin and cell motility increased. The anti-CD98 antibody cross-linking promoted actin stress fiber formation and activation of signal transduction downstream of RhoA GTPase, and elevated the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase, paxillin, and protein kinase B. Pretreatment of transfected FLC4 cells with specific inhibitors for alpha(v)beta(3)integrin, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, and RhoA diminished these effects caused by anti-CD98 antibody cross-linking. These results suggest that notoriously invasive activity of extravillous trophoblast is mediated by CD98hc, which promotes alpha(v)beta(3) integrin-dependent signals.