Completion of the Entire Hepatitis C Virus Life Cycle in Vero Cells Derived from Monkey Kidney

UNLABELLED A hepatitis C virus (HCV) cell culture system incorporating the JFH-1 strain and the human hepatoma cell line HuH-7 enabled the production of infectious HCV particles. Several host factors were identified as essential for HCV replication. Supplementation of these factors in nonhepatic human cell lines enabled HCV replication and particle production. Vero cells established from monkey kidney are commonly used for the production of vaccines against a variety of viruses. In this study, we aimed to establish a novel Vero cell line to reconstruct the HCV life cycle. Unmodified Vero cells did not allow HCV infection or replication. The expression of microRNA 122 (miR-122), an essential factor for HCV replication, is notably low in Vero cells. Therefore, we supplemented Vero cells with miR-122 and found that HCV replication was enhanced. However, Vero cells that expressed miR-122 still did not allow HCV infection. We supplemented HCV receptor molecules and found that scavenger receptor class B type I (SRBI) was essential for HCV infection in Vero cells. The supplementation of apolipoprotein E (ApoE), a host factor important for virus production, enabled the production of infectious virus in Vero cells. Finally, we created a Vero cell line that expressed the essential factors miR-122, SRBI, and ApoE; the entire HCV life cycle, including infection, replication, and infectious virus production, was completed in these cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated that miR-122, SRBI, and ApoE were necessary and sufficient for the completion of the entire HCV life cycle in nonhuman, nonhepatic Vero cells. IMPORTANCE HCV is a major cause of chronic liver diseases worldwide, and an effective prophylactic HCV vaccine is needed. For safety reasons, the current HCV cell culture system using HuH-7 cells, which was established from a hepatocellular carcinoma, is not suitable for the production of a vaccine against HCV. A robust HCV production system using non-cancer-derived cells is indispensable for this purpose. In this study, we wanted to establish a novel HCV cell culture system using Vero cells, which are widely used in the production of vaccines against different viruses. We identified the minimum essential host factors for the completion of the entire HCV life cycle in Vero cells to develop a novel HCV cell culture system. A cell culture system that uses Vero cells will be useful not only for HCV vaccine production but also for the further elucidation of the mechanisms of various HCV-host interactions.