Abstract

DOES STAT3 KNOCKDOWN AFFECT HCV REPLICATION

*Shaymaa M. M. Yahya, PhD

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered as a major health problem, affecting more than 170 million individuals worldwide. Host genes were found to modulate viral infection. Studies from animal models have shown that STAT3 plays an important role in cell proliferation, survival, and transformation in the liver. STAT proteins play an important role in the regulation of inflammatory responses by Antigen presenting cells (APCs). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of STAT 3 silencing on HCV replication. Con1 cells were transfected with 5nM siSTAT3 using high perfect transfection reagent. STAT3and HCV gene expression were determined using Quantitative real time RT-PCR. The STAT3 knockdown efficiency was 65.31% as compared to negative control siRNA treated cells. HCV normalized copy numbers did not show significant changes as compared to negative control siRNA treated cells. We concluded from this study that the role played by STAT3 in HCV replication could be accompanied by other roles from other pathways. Consequently, STAT3 knockdown alone is not enough to suppress HCV replication.

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