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Critical Role of Interferon-α Constitutively Produced in Human Hepatocytes in Response to RNA Virus Infection.
- Source :
-
PLoS ONE . Feb2014, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p1-9. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- Several viruses are known to infect human liver and cause the hepatitis, but the interferon (IFN) response, a first-line defense against viral infection, of virus-infected hepatocytes is not clearly defined yet. We investigated innate immune system against RNA viral infection in immortalized human hepatocytes (HuS-E/2 cells), as the cells showed similar early innate immune responses to primary human hepatocytes (PHH). The low-level constitutive expression of IFN-α1 gene, but not IFN-β and IFN-λ, was observed in both PHH and HuS-E/2 cells in the absence of viral infection, suggesting a particular subtype(s) of IFN-α is constitutively produced in human hepatocytes. To examine the functional role of such IFN-α in the antiviral response, the expression profiles of innate immune-related genes were studied in the cells with the treatment of neutralization against type I IFN receptor 2 (IFNAR2) or IFN-α itself to inhibit the constitutive IFN-α signaling before and after virus infection. As the results, a clear reduction of basal level expression of IFN-inducible genes was observed in uninfected cells. When the effect of the inhibition on the cells infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) was examined, the significant decrease of IFN stimulated gene expression and the enhancement of initial HCV replication were observed, suggesting that the steady-state production of IFN-α plays a role in amplification of antiviral responses to control the spread of RNA viral infection in human hepatocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 94731382
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089869