Analysis of replication mechanism and pathogenesis of hepatitis E virus using infectious clone

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25460580
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Virology
• Research Institution: National Institute of Infectious Diseases
• Principal Investigator: ISHII Koji 国立感染症研究所, ウイルス第二部, 室長 (40280763)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Li Tian Cheng 国立感染症研究所, ウイルス第二部, 主任研究官 (90370957)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: E型肝炎ウイルス / 複製機構 / 感染メカニズム / 病原性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We constructed infectious hepatitis E virus (HEV) clone from infected porcine liver and replaced the structural protein to reporter genes resulted in successful construction of HEV replicon. This replicon was used for the screening of the library of chemical compounds. We found some compounds that shared the same bioactivity. Although more detailed analysis is still needed to reveal the effect of these compounds to HEV replication, but these results would contribute to the analysis of the mechanism of HEV replication and pathogenesis.
We also analyzed the processing of HEV nonstructural protein (ORF1) that encodes viral proteins responsible for the replication of HEV. We expressed whole ORF1 and potential protease region by using wheat germ-based cell free expression system. Protease activity was detected from ORF1 protein, suggesting that this cell free expression system is useful for the analysis of the processing mechanism of HEV nonstructural protein.

Free Research Field

ウイルス学