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Research from Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science in the Area of Hepatitis C Virus Published

2013 JAN 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Biotech Week -- Current study results on Liver Diseases and Conditions have been published. According to news reporting originating from Tokyo, Japan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "Chronic hepatitis C, which is caused by infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), is a global health problem. Using a mouse model of hepatitis C, we examined the therapeutic effects of a recombinant vaccinia virus (rVV) that encodes an HCV protein."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, "We generated immunocompetent mice that each expressed multiple HCV proteins via a Cre/loxP switching system and established several distinct attenuated rVV strains. The HCV core protein was expressed consistently in the liver after polyinosinic acid-polycytidylic acid injection, and these mice showed chronic hepatitis C-related pathological findings (hepatocyte abnormalities, accumulation of glycogen, steatosis), liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Immunization with one rVV strain (rVV-N25), which encoded nonstructural HCV proteins, suppressed serum inflammatory cytokine levels and alleviated the symptoms of pathological chronic hepatitis C within 7 days after injection. Furthermore, HCV protein levels in liver tissue also decreased in a CD4 and CD8 T-cell-dependent manner. Consistent with these results, we showed that rVV-N25 immunization induced a robust CD8 T-cell immune response that was specific to the HCV nonstructural protein 2. We also demonstrated that the onset of chronic hepatitis in CN2-29((±))/MxCre((±)) mice was mainly attributable to inflammatory cytokines, (tumor necrosis factor) TNF-a and (interleukin) IL-6. Thus, our generated mice model should be useful for further investigation of the immunological processes associated with persistent expression of HCV proteins because these mice had not developed immune tolerance to the HCV antigen."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "In addition, we propose that rVV-N25 could be developed as an effective therapeutic vaccine."

For more information on this research see: Immunization with a recombinant vaccinia virus that encodes nonstructural proteins of the hepatitis C virus suppresses viral protein levels in mouse liver. Plos One, 2012;7(12):e51656. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; Plos One - www.plosone.org)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting S. Sekiguchi, Dept. of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Keywords for this news article include: HCV, Asia, Tokyo, Japan, Peptides, Virology, Hepatology, Amino Acids, DNA Viruses, RNA Viruses, Orthopoxvirus, Vaccinia Virus, Viral Proteins, Viral Vaccines, Chordopoxvirinae, Gastroenterology, Chronic Hepatitis, Hepatitis C Virus, Infectious Disease, Vertebrate Viruses, DNA Virus Infections, Poxviridae Infections.

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