抑制丙肝病毒蛋白质
法国和美国科学家4月2日在《公共科学图书馆·综合》（PLoS ONE）杂志上报告说，他们发现了一种能够抑制丙肝病毒的蛋白质。这一发现将有助于研究丙肝新疗法。法国国家科研中心和美国斯坦福大学的研究人员共同发现的这种蛋白质名叫EWI－2Wint，它能阻止丙肝病毒表面的糖蛋白与CD81蛋白质发生反应，从而起到抑制丙肝病毒的作用。CD81是丙肝病毒侵入肝部需要借助的几种蛋白质之一。
研究人员指出，丙肝是一种慢性疾病，会持续性地破坏肝脏。由于初期症状不太明显，丙肝容易被人们忽略，若不及时诊治，可能发展成肝硬化或肝癌。目前全球有1亿多人感染丙肝，但医学界尚未研究出针对丙肝的疫苗。
（PLoS ONE），doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001866，Vera Rocha-Perugini，Laurence Cocquerel
The CD81 Partner EWI-2wint Inhibits Hepatitis C Virus Entry
Vera Rocha-Perugini1#, Claire Montpellier1#, David Delgrange1, Czeslaw Wychowski1, Fran鏾is Helle1, André Pillez1, Hervé Drobecq1, Fran鏾is Le Naour3, Stéphanie Charrin3, Shoshana Levy2, Eric Rubinstein3, Jean Dubuisson1*, Laurence Cocquerel1,2*
1 Institut de Biologie de Lille (UMR8161), CNRS, Universités de Lille I et Lille II, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France2 Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, United States of America3 INSERM-U602, Institut André-Lwoff, Université Paris XI, H魀ital Paul Brousse, Villejuif, France
Abstract
Two to three percent of the world's population is chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and thus at risk of developing liver cancer. Although precise mechanisms regulating HCV entry into hepatic cells are still unknown, several cell surface proteins have been identified as entry factors for this virus. Among these molecules, the tetraspanin CD81 is essential for HCV entry. Here, we have identified a partner of CD81, EWI-2wint, which is expressed in several cell lines but not in hepatocytes. Ectopic expression of EWI-2wint in a hepatoma cell line susceptible to HCV infection blocked viral entry by inhibiting the interaction between the HCV envelope glycoproteins and CD81. This finding suggests that, in addition to the presence of specific entry factors in the hepatocytes, the lack of a specific inhibitor can contribute to the hepatotropism of HCV. This is the first example of a pathogen gaining entry into host cells that lack a specific inhibitory factor.
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