• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.206-212
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• 2002

The NS2B-NS3(pro) polyprotein segment from the dengue virus serotype 2 strain 16681 was purified from overexpressing E. coli by metal chelate affinity chromatography and gel filtration. Enzymatic activity of the refolded NS2B-NS3(pro) protease complex was determined in vitro with dansyl-labeled peptide substrates, based upon native dengue virus type 2 cleavage sites. The 12mer substrate peptides and the cleavage products could be separated by reversed-phase HPLC, and were identified by UV and fluorescence detection. All of the peptide substrates (representing the DEN polyprotein junction sequences at the NS2A/NS2B, NS2B/NS3, NS3/NS4A and NS4B/NS5 sites) were cleaved by the recombinant protease NS2B-NS3(pro). No cleavage was observed with an enzymatically inactive S135A mutant of the NS3 protein, or with a modified substrate peptide of the NS3/NS4A polyprotein site that contained a K2093A substitution. Enzymatic activity was dependent on the salt concentration. A 50% decrease of activity was observed in the presence of 0.1M sodium chloride. Our results show that the NS3 protease activity of the refolded NS2B-NS3(pro) protein can be assayed in vitro with high specificity by using cleavage-junction derived peptide substrates.

• BMB Reports
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2000

Proteolytic processing of the dengue virus serotype 2 polyprotein precursor is catalyzed by a host signal peptidase and a virus encoded two-component protease consisting of the nonstructural proteins, NS2B and NS3. We expressed in Escherichia coli the NS2B, NS3(pro) and NS2B-NS3 proteins from the dengue virus type 2 strain 16681 as N-terminal fusions with a hexahistidine affinity tag under the control of the inducible trc promoter. All fusion proteins were purified to >90% purity by detergent extraction of inclusion bodies and a single step metal chelate chromatography. Proteins were refolded on-column and recovered with yields of 0.5, 6.0 and 1.0 mg/l of E. coli culture that was grown to $OD_{600}=1.0$ for NS2B, NS3(pro) and NS2B-NS3, respectively. Purified proteins gave strong signals in Western blots using $Ni^{2+}-nitrilotriacetic$ acid as a probe for the presence of the polyHis tag. During the purification process, $(His)_{6}NS2B-NS3$ was apparently not autoproteolytically cleaved at the NS2B/NS3 site.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1651-1658
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• 2020

Since Zika virus (ZIKV) was first detected in Uganda in 1947, serious outbreaks have occurred globally in Yap Island, French Polynesia and Brazil. Even though the number of infections and spread of ZIKV have risen sharply, the pathogenesis and replication mechanisms of ZIKV have not been well studied. ZIKV, a recently highlighted Flavivirus, is a mosquito-borne emerging virus causing microcephaly and the Guillain-Barre syndrome in fetuses and adults, respectively. ZIKV polyprotein consists of three structural proteins named C, prM and E and seven nonstructural proteins named NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5 in an 11-kb single-stranded positive sense RNA genome. The function of individual ZIKV genes on the host innate immune response has barely been studied. In this study, we investigated the modulations of the NF-κB promoter activity induced by the MDA5/RIG-I signaling pathway. According to our results, two nonstructural proteins, NS2A and NS4A, dramatically suppressed the NF-κB promoter activity by inhibiting signaling factors involved in the MDA5/RIG-I signaling pathway. Interestingly, NS2A suppressed all components of MDA5/RIG-I signaling pathway, but NS4A inhibited most signaling molecules, except IKKε and IRF3-5D. In addition, both NS2A and NS4A downregulated MDA5-induced NF-κB promoter activity in a dosedependent manner. Taken together, our results suggest that NS2A and NS4A signifcantly antagonize MDA5/RIG-I-mediated NF-κB production, and these proteins seem to be controlled by different mechanisms. This study could help understand the mechanisms of how ZIKV controls innate immune responses and may also assist in the development of ZIKV-specific therapeutics.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2006

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural protein 5A protein (NS5A), which consists of three functional domains, is involved in regulating viral replication, interferon resistance, and apoptosis. Recently, the three-dimensional structure of the domain 1 was determined. However, currently the molecular basis for the domains 2 and 3 of HCV NS5A is yet to be defined. Toward this end, we expressed, purified the domain 2 of the NS5A (NS5A-D2), and then performed biochemical and structural studies. The purified domain 2 was active and was able to bind NS5B and PKR, biological partners of NS5A. The results from gel filtration, CD analysis, 1D $^1H$ NMR and 2D $^1H-^{15}N$ heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) spectroscopy indicate that the domain 2 of NS5A appears to be flexible and disordered.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.301-306
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• 1999

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been known to be an enveloped virus with a positive strand RNA genome and the major agent of the vast majority of transfusion associated cases of hepatitis. For viral replication, HCV structural proteins are first processed by host cell signal peptidases and NS2/NS3 site of the nonstructural protein is cleaved by a zinc-dependent protease NS2 with N-terminal NS3. The four remaining junctions are cleaved by a separate NS3 protease. The solution conformations of NS4B/5A, NS5A/5B substrates and NS5A/5B inhibitor have been determined by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. NMR data suggested that the both NS5A/5B substrate and inhibitor appeared to have a folded tum-like conformation not only between P1 and P6 position but also C-terminal region, whereas the NS4B/5A substrate exhibited mostly extended conformation. In addition, we have found that the conformation of the NS5A/5B inhibitor slightly differs from that of NS5A/5B substrate peptide, suggesting different binding mode for NS3 protease. These findings will be of importance for designing efficient inhibitor to suppress HCV processing.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.600-606
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• 2023

Dengue virus (DENV) is a widespread arbovirus. To efficiently establish infection, DENV evolves multiple strategies to hijack the host innate immune response. Herein, we examined the inhibitory effects of DENV serotype 2 (DENV2) nonstructural proteins on RIG-I-directed antiviral immune response. We found that DENV2 NS2A, NS2B, NS4A, and NS4B significantly inhibited RIG-I-mediated IFN-β promoter activation. The roles of NS2B in RIG-I-directed antiviral immune response are unknown. Our study further showed that NS2B could dose-dependently suppress RIG-I/MAVS-induced activation of IFN-β promoter. Consistently, NS2B significantly decreased RIG-I- and MAVS-induced transcription of IFNB1, ISG15, and ISG56. Mechanistically, NS2B was found to interact with MAVS and IKKε to impair RIG-I-directed antiviral response. Our findings demonstrated a previously uncharacterized function of NS2B in RIG-I-mediated antiviral response, making it a promising drug target for anti-DENV treatments.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2003

CsI single crystals doped with lithium, potassium or rubidium were grown by using Czochralski method at Ar gas atmosphere. The energy resolutions of CsI(Li:0.2 mole%), CsI(K:0.5 mole%) and CsI(Rb:1.5 mole%) scintillators were 14.5%, 15.9% and 17.0% for $^{137}Cs$(0.662 MeV), respectively. The energy calibration curves of CsI(Li), CsI(K) and CsI(Rb) scintillators were linear for $\gamma$-ray energy. The time resolutions of CsI(Li:0.2 mole%), CsI(K:0.5 mole%) and CsI(Rb:1.5 mole%) scintillators measured by CFT(constant-fraction timing method) were 9.0 ns, 14.7 ns and 9.7 ns, respectively. The fluorescence decay times of CsI(Li:0.2 mole%) scintillator had a fast component and slow one of ${\tau}_1=41.2\;ns$ and ${\tau}_2=483\;ns$, respectively. The fluorescence decay times of CsI(K:0.5 mole%) scintillator were ${\tau}_1=47.2\;ns$ and ${\tau}_2=417\;ns$. And the fluorescence decay times of CsI(Rb:1.5 mole%) scintillator were ${\tau}_1=41.3\;ns$ and ${\tau}_2=553\;ns$. The phosphorescence decay times of CsI(Li:0.2 mole%), CsI(K:0.5 mole%) and CsI(Rb:1.5 mole%) scintillators were 0.51 s, 0.57 s and 0.56 s, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Simulation Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.253-258
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• 2002

This paper proposes a methodology for development of protocol models. The methodology attempts to employ two modeling environments in models development, NS2 and DEVSim++, which will interoperate during simulation. NS2 is a widely used network simulator in protocol research, which employs an informal modeling approach. Within the approach time and state information of protocol models are not explicitly described, thus being hard to validate model. On the other hand the DEVS formalism is a mathematical framework for modeling a discrete event system in a hierarchical, modular manner. In DEVS, model's time and state information is described explicitly, By using DEVS formalism, models can easily be validated and errors in the modeling stage can be reduced. However, the DEVS simulator, DEVSim++, supports a small amount of models library which are required to build simulation models of general communication network. Although NS2 employs an informal modeling approach and models validation is difficult, it supports abundant models library validated by experimental users. Thus, combination of DEVS models and NS2 models may be an effective solution for network modeling. Such combination requires interoperation between DEVSim++ simulator and NS2 simulator. This paper develops an environment for such interoperation. Correctness and effectiveness of the implemented interoperation environment have been validated by simulation of UDP and TCP models.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.741-748
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• 2004

The hepatitis C virus is associated with the development of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinomas. Among the 10 polyproteins produced by the virus, no function has been clearly assigned to the non-structural 5A (NS5A) protein. This study was designed to identify the hepatocellular proteins that interact with NS5A of the HCV. Yeast two-hybrid experiments were performed with a human liver cDNA prey-library, using five different NS5A derivatives as baits, the full-length NS5A (NS5A-F, amino acid (aa) 1~447) and its four different derivatives, denoted as NS5A-A (aa 1~150), -B (aa 1~300), -C (aa 300~447) and D (aa 150~447). NS5A-F, NS5A-B and NS5A-C gave two, two and 10 candidate clones, respectively, including an AHNAK-related protein, the secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4), the N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1), the cellular retinoic acid binding protein 1 (CRABP-1), ferritin heavy chain (FTH1), translokin, tumor-associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2), phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI4K) and $centaurin{\delta}$ 2 ($CENT{\delta}2$). However, NS5A-A produced no candidates and NS5A-D was not suitable as bait due to transcriptional activity. Based on an in vitro binding assay, CRABP-1, PI4K, $CENT{\delta}2$ and two unknown fusion proteins with maltose binding protein (MBP), were confirmed to interact with the glutathione S-transferase (GST)/NS5A fusion protein. Furthermore, the interactions of CRABP-1, PI4K and $CENT{\delta}2$ were not related to the PXXP motif (class II), as judged by a domain analysis. While their biological relevance is under investigation, the results contribute to a better understanding of the possible role of NS5A in hepatocellular signaling pathways.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.202-210
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• 2017

The nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) encoded by the human hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA genome is a multifunctional phosphoprotein. To analyse the influence of NS5A on apoptosis, we established an Hep-NS5A cell line (HepG2 cells that stably express NS5A) and induced apoptosis using tumour necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. We utilised the MTT assay to detect cell viability, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot to analyse gene and protein expression, and a luciferase reporter gene experiment to investigate the targeted regulatory relationship. Chromatin immunoprecipitation was used to identify the combination of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and miR-503. We found that overexpression of NS5A inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced hepatocellular apoptosis via regulating miR-503 expression. The cell viability of the $TNF-{\alpha}$ induced Hep-mock cells was significantly less than the viability of the $TNF-{\alpha}$ induced Hep-NS5A cells, which demonstrates that NS5A inhibited $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced HepG2 cell apoptosis. Under $TNF-{\alpha}$ treatment, miR-503 expression was decreased and cell viability and B-cell lymphoma 2 (bcl-2) expression were increased in the Hep-NS5A cells. Moreover, the luciferase reporter gene experiment verified that bcl-2 was a direct target of miR-503, NS5A inhibited $TNF{\alpha}$-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation and $NF-{\kappa}B$ regulated miR-503 transcription by combining with the miR-503 promoter. After the Hep-NS5A cells were transfected with miR-503 mimics, the data indicated that the mimics could reverse $TNF-{\alpha}$-induced cell apoptosis and blc-2 expression. Collectively, our findings suggest a possible molecular mechanism that may contribute to HCV treatment in which NS5A inhibits $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation to decrease miR-503 expression and increase bcl-2 expression, which leads to a decrease in hepatocellular apoptosis.