Inhibition effect of Chinese herbal medicine on transcription of hepatitis C virus structural gene in vitro

AIM: To investigate the inhibitory effect of Chinese herbal medicine on the transcription of hepatitis C virus (HCV) structural gene in Hela D cells.METHODS: Hela cell line was transfected with recombinant pBK-CMV-HCV containing HCV structural gene by Lipofectamine. RT-nested-PCR and Western blot assay were used to testify the HCV gene expression in Hela cells. The Hela cells expressing HCV structural protein were named Hela D cells. Prescriptions of Xiao chaihu Decoction (XCHD),Fufang Huangqi (FFHQ) and Bingganling (BGL) wererespectively added to Hela D cells in various concentrations. Semi-quantitative RT-nested-PCR product analysis was performed according to the fluorescent density between HCV DNA band and GAPDH DNA band in gel electrophoresisafter screened. RESULTS: Recombinant pBK-CMV-HCV could correctly express the HCV structural gene in Hela D cells. After coculture of Hela D cells with three prescriptional different concentrations for 48 h respectively, the transcription of HCVgene decreased with increasing of the concentration of each prescription. The lightness ratio of HCV product bands to GAPDH product bands was 0.24, 0.10 and 0.12 in Hela D cells incubated with 0.1 g/mL of XCHD, FFHQand BGL respectively and the lightness ratio HCV product bands to GAPDH product bands was 0.75, 0.67 and 0.61respectively in the control cells. CONCLUSION: The prescriptions of XCHD, FFHQ and BGL partly inhibit the transcription of HCV structural gene inHela D cells.

Modified RNA with a Phosphate-Methylated Backbone. A Serious Omission in Our (Retracted) Study at HIV-1 RNA Loops and Integrated DNA. Specific Properties of the (Modified) RNA and DNA Dimers

After the recent publication in the Journal of Biophysical Chemistry entitled “Retracted HIV Study Provides New Information about the Status of the in Vitro Inhibition of DNA Replication by Back-bone Methylation”, it is of importance to review the results of Buck’s group on the synthesis and conformation analyses of phosphate-methylated RNAs in order to afford information on the absence of a further investigation with regard to this de facto acceptable approach. In fact these compounds belong to the very first group of RNAs with a modified neutral backbone by phosphatemethylation. In contrast to the corresponding phosphate-methylated DNAs with a frozen B-conformation, the phosphate-methylated RNAs show an A-conformation. The latter is a prerequisite for duplex formation with (complementary) (natural) RNA. A number of experiments support this fundamental statement. After the HIV study was retracted, the overall results concerning the phosphate-methylated RNAs were published without mentioning Buck’s initial proof of concept and his contributions. Generally, the (modified) dimer RNAs and DNAs possess a number of specific biophysical properties. A novel explanation is given for conflicting structural determinations.

Targeting late SV40 factor: Is the achilles heel of hepatocarcinogenesis revealed?

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a dreadful cancer and a major cause of death among patients with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. The apparent alterations in a diversity of intracellular pathways found in HCC has set the rational for developing molecular-directed drugs that simultaneously inhibit multiple pathways, such as the multi-kinase inhibitor Sorafenib. However, recently this concept has been challenged by showing that HCC is heavily dependent on a single oncogene designated late SV-40 factor (LSF), a transcription factor that is over-expressed in liver cancer cells and that its expression is strongly correlated with tumor grade and aggressiveness. Furthermore, using an intensive screening for drugs that inhibit LSF activity, Grant et al have found a molecule designated factor quinolinone inhibitor 1 that can specifically block the ability of LSF to bind its target promoters, resulting in a massive death of HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. The innovative findings of HCC representing "oncogene addiction" to LSF and the ability of a single molecule to block the activity of this oncogene resulting in tumor abolishment are encouraging and provide us with the hope that the "Achilles heel" of HCC has been found.

The RNA helicase DDX46 inhibits innate immunity by entrapping m^6 A-demethylated antiviral transcripts in the nucleus

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,the research team directed by Prof.Cao Xuetao(曹雪涛)at the National Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology&Department of Immunology,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences,and the National Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology,Second Military Medical University,recently reported that RNA helicase DDX46is