Reciprocal regulation of farnesoid X receptor α activity and hepatitis B virus replication in differentiated HepaRG cells and primary human hepatocytes.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and bile salt metabolism seem tightly connected. HBV enters hepatocytes by binding to sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), the genome of which contains 2 active farnesoid X receptor (FXR) α response elements that participate in HBV transcriptional activity. We investigated in differentiated HepaRG cells and in primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) effects of FXR activation on HBV replication and of infection on the FXR pathway.

Hepatitis C virus/human interactome identifies SMURF2 and the viral protease as critical elements for the control of TGF-β signaling.

TGF-β signaling induces epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and plays an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Clinical observations indicate that hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection, which is a major cause of HCC, induces TGF-β signaling perturbations. Here, we investigate the mechanisms by which HCV nonstructural proteins interfere with TGF-β signaling, in human hepatoma cell lines expressing HCV subgenomic replicon.

Improved adenovirus type 5 vector-mediated transduction of resistant cells by piggybacking on coxsackie B-adenovirus receptor-pseudotyped baculovirus.

Taking advantage of the wide tropism of baculoviruses (BVs), we constructed a recombinant BV (BV(CAR)) pseudotyped with human coxsackie B-adenovirus receptor (CAR), the high-affinity attachment receptor for adenovirus type 5 (Ad5), and used the strategy of piggybacking Ad5-green fluorescent protein (Ad5GFP) vector on BV(CAR) to transduce various cells refractory to Ad5 infection. We found that transduction of all cells tested, including human primary cells and cancer cell lines, was significantly improved using the BV(CAR)-Ad5GFP biviral complex compared to that obtained with Ad5GFP or BV(CAR)GFP alone. We determined the optimal conditions for the formation of the complex and found that a high level of BV(CAR)-Ad5GFP-mediated transduction occurred at relatively low adenovirus vector doses, compared with transduction by Ad5GFP alone.

Th1 and Th17 balance in inflammatory myopathies: interaction with dendritic cells and possible link with response to high-dose immunoglobulins.

To clarify the interactions between dendritic cells (DCs) and Th1 and Th17 T cell subsets and the mode of action of IVIG in inflammatory myopathies, Expression of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, immature (CD1a) and mature (DC-LAMP) DCs, interleukin-17 (IL-17) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), was quantified by immunohistochemistry in muscle biopsies from 13 patients (11 with polymyositis (PM) and 2 dermatomyositis (DM)) obtained before treatment with IVIG. The Th1/Th17 cytokine and the immature/mature DC ratio were studied according to the response to IVIG. Immature DCs were rarely detected compared to mature DCs, observed in all samples except one PM.