The effects of hepatitis C virus core protein on the expression of miR-122 in vitro

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major pathogens of liver diseases. Some studies have previously reported that miR-122 can stimulate replication or translation of HCV. However, the effects of HCV infection on miR-122 expression are not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of HCV core protein on the expression of miR-122 in a cell culture model. RESULTS: The miR-122 levels in Huh7.5.1 cells infected with HCV for different days or different HCV abundance were measured by real-time PCR. Significant decrease of miR-122 expression was found at late stage of infection and in the high-abundance group. Huh7.5.1 cells transfected with plasmid pEGFP-core or pEGFP were used to detect the effects of HCV core protein on miR-122 expression, the results showed that core protein could down-regulate the miR-122 expression level in a time- and dose- dependent manner, and reduced the susceptibility of Huh7.5.1 cell to HCV. CONCLUSIONS: Down-regulating miR-122 expression by HCV core protein may give a new insight into the interaction between HCV and miR-122 and chronic HCV infection.