RESUMEN
Host genes involved in lipid metabolism are differentially affected during the early stages of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.Here we demonstrate that artificial up-regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis has a positive effect on the replication of the HCV full-length replicon when cells were treated with nystatin.Conversely,the HCV RNA replication was decreased when fatty acid biosynthesis was inhibited with 25-hydroxycholesterol and PDMP(D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3- morpholino-1-propanol).In agreement with these results,the expression level of GlcT-1(ceramide glucosyltransferase),a host glucosyltransferase in the first step of GSL (glycosphingolipid) biosynthesis,was found to be closely associated with the expression and replication of HCV RNA.On the other hand,the viral RNA can also activate GlcT-1 in the early stage of viral RNA transfection in vitro.To identify viral factors that are responsible for GlcT-1 activation,we constructed ten stable Vero cell lines that express individual HCV proteins.Based on the analyses of these cell lines and transient transfection assay of the GlcT-1 promoter regions,we conclude that HCV proteins,especially NS5A and NS5B,have positive effects on the expression of GlcT-1.It is possible that NS5A and NS5B stimulate transcription factor(s) to activate the expression of GlcT-1 by increasing its transcription level.
RESUMEN
Glycosphingolipids including gangliosides play important regulatory roles in cell proliferation and differentiation. UDP-glucose:ceramide glucosyltransferase (Ugcg) catalyze the initial step in glycosphingolipids biosynthesis pathway. In this study, Ugcg expression was reduced to approximately 80% by short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) to evaluate the roles of glycosphingolipids in proliferation and neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). HPTLC/immunofluorescence analyses of shRNA-transfected mESCs revealed that treatment with Ugcg-shRNA decreased expression of major gangliosides, GM3 and GD3. Furthermore, MTT and Western blot/immunofluorescence analyses demonstrated that inhibition of the Ugcg expression in mESCs resulted in decrease of cell proliferation (P < 0.05) and decrease of activation of the ERK1/2 (P < 0.05), respectively. To further investigate the role of glycosphingolipids in neural differentiation, the embryoid bodies formed from Ugcg-shRNA transfected mESCs were differentiated into neural cells by treatment with retinoic acid. We found that inhibition of Ugcg expression did not affect embryoid body (EB) differentiation, as judged by morphological comparison and expression of early neural precursor cell marker, nestin, in differentiated EBs. However, RT-PCR/immunofluorescence analyses showed that expression of microtubule- associated protein 2 (MAP-2) for neurons and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) for glial cells was decreased in neural cells differentiated from the shRNA-transfected mESCs. These results suggest that glycosphingolipids are involved in the proliferation of mESCs through ERK1/2 activation, and that glycosphingolipids play roles in differentiation of neural precursor cells derived from mESCs.