INHIBITORY EFFECT OF IL-18 ON HEPATITIS B VIRUS IN VITRO / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Interleukin 18 (IL 18) is emerging as a powerful, pleiotropic cytokine involved in determining the polarization of T cell responses. To identify the effect of IL 18 on hepatitis B virus, mouse IL 18 gene was transferred and expressed in 2.2.15 cells. Meanwhile, the inhibition of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV DNA was investigated. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) was used to amplify the mouse IL 18 from spleen cell of Balb/c mouse challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phytahematoagglutinin (PHA), and reconstruct plasmid pLXSN IL18 with the retroviral vector pLXSN. Both pLXSN IL18 and pLXSN were transfected into PA317 cells and then 2.2.15 cells were infected by using the supernatant containing pseudovirus released by PA317. HBsAg and HBeAg were detected by ELISA and the HBV DNA was determined by quantitative PCR. The 580bp of mIL 18 was cloned into retroviral vector pLXSN. The pseudovirus contained in the supernatant of transfected PA317 cells was identified by RT PCR. When the pseudovirus was infected into 2.2.15 cells and incubated for 3, 5, 7, 14 days, the P/N value of HBsAg and HBeAg decreased gradually and became negative on day 14. The copies of HBV DNA reduced markedly. The results indicate that mIL 18 gene expressed in 2.2.15 cells can significantly inhibit the replication expression of HBV and may be used as a potential agent for gene therapy against HBV infection.