Two Alternative Translation Mechanisms Are Responsible for the Expression of the HCV

HCV-1 produces a novel protein, known as ARFP, F, or core 1. This protein is encoded by an open reading frame (ORF) that overlaps the core gene in the 1 frame (core 1 ORF). In vitro this protein is produced by a ribosomal frameshift mechanism. However, similar studies failed to detect the ARFP/F/core 1 protein in the HCV-1a (H) isolate. To clarify this issue and to elucidate the functions of this protein, we examined the expression of the core 1 ORF by the HCV-1 and HCV-1a (H) isolates in vivo, in transfected cells. For this purpose, we carried out luciferase (LUC) tagging experiments combined with site-directed mutagenesis studies. Our results showed that the core 1-LUC chimeric protein was efficiently produced in vivo by both isolates. More importantly, neither changes in the specific 10-A residue region of HCV-1 (codons 8–11), the proposed frameshift site for the production of the ARFP/F/core 1 protein in vitro, nor the alteration of the ATG start site of the HCV polyprotein to a stop codon significantly affected the in vivo expression of the core 1 ORF. Furthermore, we showed that efficient translation initiation of the core 1 ORF is mediated by internal initiation codon(s) within the core/core 1-coding sequence, located between nucleotides 583 and 606. Collectively, our data suggest the existence of an alternative translation initiation mechanism that may result in the synthesis of a shorter form of the core 1 protein in transfected cells.