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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
10
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-9-22
pubmed:abstractText
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious threat to human health worldwide. In spite of the continued search for specific and effective anti-HCV therapies, the rapid emergence of drug-resistance variants has been hampering the development of anti-HCV drugs designed to target viral enzymes. Targeting host factors has therefore emerged as an alternative strategy offering the potential to circumvent the ever-present complication of drug resistance. We previously identified protein kinase C-related kinase 2 (PRK2) as a cellular kinase that phosphorylates the HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Here, we report the anti-HCV activity of HA1077, also known as fasudil, and Y27632, which blocks HCV RdRp phosphorylation by suppressing PRK2 activation. Treatment of a Huh7 cell line, stably expressing a genotype 1b HCV subgenomic replicon RNA, with 20 microm each of HA1077 and Y27632 reduced the HCV RNA level by 55% and 30%, respectively. A combination of the inhibitors with 100 IU/mL interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) significantly potentiated the anti-HCV drug activities resulting in approximately a 2-log(10) viral RNA reduction. We also found that IFN-alpha does not activate PRK2 as well as its upstream kinase PDK1 in HCV-replicating cells. Furthermore, treatment of HCV-infected cells with 20 microm each of HA1077 and Y27632 reduced the levels of intracellular viral RNA by 70% and 92%, respectively. Taken together, the results identify PRK2 inhibitors as potential antiviral drugs that act by suppressing HCV replication via inhibition of viral RNA polymerase phosphorylation.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
1365-2893
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
16
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
697-704
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Suppression of hepatitis C virus replication by protein kinase C-related kinase 2 inhibitors that block phosphorylation of viral RNA polymerase.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't