Back to Search
Start Over
Lipid Droplets Accumulation during Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Cell-Culture Varies among Genotype 1-3 Strains and Does Not Correlate with Virus Replication.
- Source :
-
Viruses [Viruses] 2021 Feb 28; Vol. 13 (3). Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 28. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Liver steatosis is a common complication of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which can result in accelerated liver fibrosis development, especially in patients infected with genotype 3a. The precise mechanisms of HCV-induced liver steatosis remain unclear, but it is often posited that increased intracellular lipid accumulation is the underlying cause of steatosis. To study experimentally how HCV infection in human liver derived cells by different genotypes and subtypes might affect lipid accumulation, we performed detailed cytofluorimetric and microscopy analyses of intracellular lipid droplets (LDs) in relation to the viral Core and to cell endoplasmic reticulum proteins. Following culture infection with HCV genotype 1a, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 3a strains, we found variable levels of intracellular LDs accumulation, associated to the infecting strain rather than to the specific genotype. Although two genotype 3a strains showed high levels of lipid accumulation, as previously observed, some strains of other genotypes displayed a similar phenotype. Moreover, the analyses of LDs size, number, and shape indicated that the apparent increase in lipid accumulation is due to an increase in the overall number rather than in the size of droplets. Finally, differences in total lipid content across genotypes did not correlate to differences in Core distribution nor Core levels. In conclusion, our study provides a quantitative in-depth analysis of the effect of HCV infection on LDs accumulation in cell-culture.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Subjects :
- Amino Acid Sequence
Cell Line, Tumor
Endoplasmic Reticulum metabolism
Fatty Liver metabolism
Fatty Liver virology
Genotype
Hepatocytes metabolism
Humans
Liver metabolism
Liver Cirrhosis metabolism
Liver Cirrhosis virology
Sequence Alignment
Viral Core Proteins metabolism
Hepacivirus genetics
Hepatitis C metabolism
Hepatitis C virology
Lipid Droplets metabolism
Virus Replication genetics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1999-4915
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Viruses
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 33671086
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/v13030389