Objective: To explore the effect of HCV core protein on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in HepG(2) cells.
Methods: The HCV core gene cDNA was recoverd by PCR, and cloned into PBK-CMV. The recombinant plasmid (PBK-HCVc) and the vector-alone were transfected into HepG(2) cells with liposome. After being selected with G418,resistant colonies were obtained. The reverse transcription PCR and Western blot was analyzed to show HCV core protein expression. VEGF was analyzed by immunohistochemical and Western blot; VEGF mRNA was analyzed by in situ hybridization and reverse transcription PCR.
Results: The results suggest that the recombinant plasmid could express HCV core protein efficiently under the control of vector's promoter. The VEGF of HepG(2)-C cells was higher than that of HepG(2)-CMV.
Conclusions: HCV C protein can activates the expression of VEGF in HepG(2) cells and may contributes to viral carcinogenesis.