Liver Cancer-Derived Hepatitis C Virus Core Proteins Shift TGF-Beta Responses from Tumor Suppression to Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Figure 1
Expression of HCV core proteins in primary mouse hepatocytes reduce cell growth inhibition and apoptosis induced by TGF-β.
(A,B,C) Mouse hepatocytes obtained from livers of transgenic mice expressing or not HCV core proteins isolated from tumor (T) or cirrhotic (NT) tissues were treated with TGF-β for 48 h before determination of cell proliferation, estimated by BrDU incorporation (A), cell viability (B) or caspase 3 activity (C). (D) Cells were treated with TRAIL (20 ng/ml) for 18 h before determination of caspase3 activity. Results represent the mean+/−SD of triplicates from a representative experiment. * p≤0.05, ** p≤0.005, *** p≤0.0005.